


Monster In The Mountain

by confuseddonut23



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Bad Humor, Comfort/Angst, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Inappropriate Humor, Mystery, Nonbinary Frisk, Other, POV Frisk (Undertale), Pining, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Slow Burn, The Absolute God of Hyperdeath (Undertale), Tsunderes, porn with a plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26007211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confuseddonut23/pseuds/confuseddonut23
Summary: Stubborn twenty year old Frisk makes a secret and dangerous expedition inside the mysterious and quiet MT. Ebott, lead by only the strange dreams they've had since they were a kid, on their way to somehow make a compromise with the soul stealing beast inside, whom they come to know as The God Of Hyperdeath... they can only hope the rumors they'd heard of him aren't all true.
Relationships: Asriel Dreemurr/Frisk, Frisk/Asriel Dreemurr, God of Hyperdeath/Frisk
Comments: 53
Kudos: 61





	1. The Lonely Expedition

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I don't know how to explain this one, except that I've always been fascinated with the idea of an older Frisk meeting an older God of Hyperdeath, one thing lead to another and I found myself writing this story. 
> 
> I also have major mixed emotions about this story, but there's something about it that keeps me coming back to it.
> 
> Also, please bare with me due to the face that the first two chapters are Giant Expositions, after that is when things start happening...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk has set out on their journey to find the horrible Monster, they're amazed by the sights of Mt. Ebott, but quickly find themselves disappointed and unnerved by how desolate and empty it all is.

**Monster in the Mountain**

**Chapter 1** **The Lonely Expedition**

**Inspiration Song:** Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House

_There is freedom within_   
_There is freedom without_   
_Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup_   
_There's a battle ahead_   
_Many battles are lost_   
_But you'll never see the end of the road_   
_While you're travelling with me_

_Hey now, hey now_   
_Don't dream it's over_   
_Hey now, hey now_   
_When the world comes in_   
_They come, they come_

_To build a wall between us_   
_We know they won't win_

_Now I'm walking again_   
_To the beat of a drum_   
_And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart_   
_Only shadows ahead_   
_Barely clearing the roof_   
_Get to know the feeling of liberation and release_

  
The sun beamed across the world and glinted gold in Frisk’s hazel eyes as they stared hard at the dark hole in the ground as they stormed up toward it. 

Eleven years ago is when it all started.

  
Mt. Ebott had once been a mountain shrouded in mystery and ancient history, stories of monsters, magic, and battles, until one day, there was an explosion that rocked the city and when they went to inspect the source, they found a very tall and very wide door sized hole, it looked as if it had always been there.

  
The mistake they made was going in.

  
Because anyone who went in… _never came back out…_

It started with a few simple expeditions, but after getting no response and only static off their walky-talkies, the simple expeditions soon turned into rescue missions.

  
Until one day, a walky-talky was tossed out of the abyss of the doorway, and what they heard on the receiver was one warning threat spoken in a deep growling voice…

  
**_‘To the moronic, brainless, humans who have been stalking around the mountain …you have NO IDEA who you are dealing with, stay away if you plan on keeping your souls, you will never know heaven or hell once I have you,’_**

Immediately after the message was received, the doorway was blocked off permanently, keeping the world outside of it safe from whoever and whatever lay inside for a decade.

But today the soul-stealing beast inside was about to get a visitor as twenty-year-old Frisk had figured out a way in, as directly on the other side on the top of the mountain there was a much smaller hole in the ground.

  
They had seen it in their dreams, they knew the pathway to the hidden entrance like the back of their hand… _and yet… they had been anywhere near the mountain until now._

  
The young adult had formulated a plan, come prepared and dressed to the nines in protective gear and harness, they had a strong feeling it would be a long drop down and were going to have to be careful when they scaled down.

Frisk stood before the hole and held their breath, mentally and emotionally preparing themselves for the adventure ahead, attempting to will away the terrifying rumors they had overheard over the years, they needed their mind clear and focused.   
Because today was the day someone was going to stop the Monster in the Mountain. 

Then, they exhaled and began their way down.

Down…  


Down….

  
  
  
_Down…_  


_Down…._

_**Down…**_

  
The climb felt like hours, with legs beginning to tire and feel heavy and arms and hands aching, Frisk kept on, the raw Determination to avenge the humans who had risked their lives to enter the mountain and the strong itch to solve the mystery pulled at them like gravity.

  
It of course didn’t stop their fear, they knew fully that they were risking their life by coming here, it had not been blocked off for no reason after all, brave or just stupid, they just couldn’t help themselves, they wanted to finally meet the Monster and put an end to his soul-stealing ways. 

At some point Frisk looked down and noticed they were around ten feet off the ground, a flood of relief and excitement rushing through them.  
“ _Thank goodness_ ,” they said under their breath.

  
But the second they said that they heard an odd noise from off in the distance, causing an echo that shuddered through the tunnel, effectively spooking them and causing them to lose their footing-

  
-dropping them suddenly a few feet down, the rush stealing their breath and stopping their heart for a few milliseconds.

  
“ ** _Ughh_!!**” they grunted roughly, the harness twisting painfully around them.

  
When they regained focus and gained better footing, they looked down… they weren’t too far from the ground anymore, letting out a tired sigh, they stopped for a moment.

  
Then finally noticed the near overgrowth of golden flowers on the ground.

  
…It was such a beautifully nonthreatening sight that Frisk nearly forgot where they were for a second, they tensed their frown, they couldn’t allow themselves to get distracted.

  
They scaled down a little more until finally they unclipped themselves free and touched back down onto the Earth…

  
_They were here._

But first, before they did anything, they pulled out their cellphone from their jacket pocket, holding it into the air as they studied the screen.  
Yep, just as they thought, absolutely no bars, even the internet was of no use… if they somehow got trapped down here… _well…_ they’d made this decision knowing how dangerous it was, but they were going to push through, they couldn’t give up, no matter what.   
“ _Just got to keep positive_ ,” they said to themselves, clicking the phone off and sticking it back in their pocket, it was time to find out exactly what Mt. Ebott was hiding inside…

  
And what Frisk found was _amazing._

It was old ruins from what looked like an ancient civilization. 

  
What made them sweat and send a cold chill down their spine was that the ruins was completely devoid of life, which they guess made sense, it was _ruins_ after all…

  
_What if the Monster in the Mountain was responsible for this?_

  
Frisk grit their teeth, pulled off their gear and harness, stuffing all of it into their backpack, and stubbornly pushed on, because no, just… _no…_ they had talked themselves up too much to go back now, they were going to do this no matter what, besides, hadn’t they heard a noise earlier? 

Besides they had just gotten here, there was a good chance that there was more to see and maybe the creatures were somewhere else? It _was_ a pretty big mountain after all…

Fortunately, as they walked and concentrated on keeping their thoughts clear and positive, the anxiety slowly began to pass. 

  
In a few rooms, they crossed what looked like puzzles that appeared to maybe serve as locks that had once already been solved, for some reason Frisk couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, even though the solved puzzles definitely made their journey easier and much, much faster.

And then… finally, to top off their confusion and worry about the emptiness of it all, they approached what looked like an average _(and rather cute)_ home in the middle of the vast dead vacantness of the ruins.   
As they peered in they knocked on the blocks on the outside.

  
“Hello? Anyone home?” they asked politely.

But there was no response. 

“. _..I’m letting myself in then,_ ” they mumbled quietly. 

  
So, gingerly, they walked in, and what they found was a continuation of the average house, it seemed so out of place compared to everything else, it was so strange.

The first room they entered lead to a basement-like area that consisted of… _an uncomfortably long and creepy hallway… . . . ._

So Frisk decided to check the main part of the house first, looking and studying around for as much evidence as they could before moving on.

  
They found an old calendar, a quaint unlit fireplace, and a comfortable old chair.

Until they stopped at the bookcase and picked out a book…

  
‘ _Trapped behind the barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern's end. This was our new home which we named... "Home."_  
 _…As great as our king is, he is pretty lousy at names.’_

  
Oh, a _king?_ So that must mean this whole place had been run under a monarchy…

  
That made sense considering the stories they had studied up on, remembering the columns and enchanting look of the ruins when they had first entered, they hoped they would get to see a palace at some point.   
How very interesting and informative…

They thought of reading more, but their curiosity for the rest of the house got the best of them, moving on to find a kitchen devoid of food, three doors inside a hallway that lead to an empty room with red painted walls, a mostly empty bedroom with blue painted walls, the last door, however… was disappointingly locked.

  
As Frisk began to feel like they saw everything, something began to dawn on them…

  
In nearly every part of the house, there were vases and flower pots of all sizes and shapes, but none of them held plants of any kind, not fakes or even dirt.

They didn’t think anything of it at first, but the more they did… it began to bother them, they just didn’t know why.   
With a forlorn sigh, Frisk made their way back to the entrance room and braved their way down the stairs to the creepy long hallway, they walked and walked until they found themselves back in a room that looked more like the ruins.

Very soon they entered a dark room that held a large doorway and a lonely patch of grass, Frisk had noticed a similar room just like this one at the beginning of the walk, for some reason, they felt as if they should wait… wait for… something…

  
_…..…Someone?_

But they shook their head at themselves, brushing off the vague feelings of melancholy and loneliness that being in these ruins had put over them, pushing forward once again.

  
Over the years, Frisk sometimes had nightmares of frightening snowy woods that held deep paths that appeared as if you could walk forever and never be able to find your way out of…  
And so, when they stepped out, they immediately wanted to step back inside, if they had known those nightmares were part of their whole ‘Mt. Ebott Dream Set’, they would have prepared their selves better because at the sight- they let out a fearful sound, their heart drumming hard in their chest and their mind going dizzy. 

  
But they held themselves up, leaning their weight against the door and closed their eyes tightly, reminding themselves why they were here and what they had to do, willing themselves to calm down, breathing the cold air deeply through their nose and exhaling it out slowly.

They could do this, they just needed to be brave. . . 

The breathing exercise had helped to an _extent_ , but they agreed with themselves that turning back was just not an option, scared or not, so, they opened their eyes and clenched their fists, and forced themselves to move.  
 _“Mister… or Miss… Monster…,_ ” they spoke up, nervously swallowing a lump in their throat “… _wherever you are…_ I hope you’re nowhere nearby, because if you are…I have to hand it to you, I’m pretty scared, and I hope you’re the only monster down here…because if you aren’t the only one here…I hope the other monsters are much nicer…,” 

Once again, there was no reply… and Frisk had mixed emotions about that.

Holding their still clenched fists to their hips, they walked a little longer, until a strangely shaped…hmm… _bridge?_ Came into view, the sight of it having an interesting calming effect on them, it made them feel better about being in the nightmare woods, deciding this place just looked frightening but was probably just.. harmless.. . hopefully. . .

  
And as Frisk looked ahead, relief fueled them as they saw that the taller dark trees tapered off and there were signs of _some kind_ of life ahead…

  
So carefully, they walked across.

But when they came closer to those signs of life, they noticed a peculiarly placed lamp that sat in the snow and a little sleepy wooden sentry station…with unfortunately no sentry to be found. 

  
They looked over at it closely to inspect if anything was hidden, but there was nothing, just snow everywhere. 

  
Walking on, they noticed a nicely wooden carved chest with a sign next to it.

  
_‘This is a box._   
_You can put an item inside or take an item out._   
_The same box will appear later, so don’t worry about coming back._   
_Sincerely, a box lover’_

  
For the first time since they started the adventure, Frisk smiled in polite amusement, taking the chance to put away some of their heavier gear, but when they attempted to open the box, their smile faded as they struggled to pull it open. 

  
Visually, there wasn’t a keyhole, neither was there a lock keeping it closed, apparently the box had either been jammed closed or this box wasn’t free to use as advertised. 

  
After attempting to get it open and repeatedly failing, Frisk let out a rough sigh and sat down on the box for a rest, at least it was handy for that. 

  
They thought things over for a moment, they had their doubts back in the ruins, obviously other creatures _had_ lived here, but the place still seemed completely deserted, as if everyone had left in a hurry, it caused a chilling theory to return to their mind. 

  
_What if the monster that had taken the people and their souls, had also taken the other creatures that lived down here? How many had it taken in general?_

  
Despite the low temperatures, a cold sweat fell over Frisk.

  
_What if they were an over-ambitious idiot and this trip was all in vain and they were going to die?_

  
They fidgeted, shaking their legs, but gripped their hands into fists, glaring down at their feet, they had to stay strong and resist their fears, there still had to be a possibility that there were others living here instead of just the soul-stealing monster! 

_Maybe they were hiding in secret for their lives?_

They continued their attempt in motivating themselves, which was proving to be difficult this time around, until… they finally noticed it- the sound of rushing water nearby meeting their ears, fighting their fears with curiosity, they got back on to their feet and followed the pleasant sound.

  
They, of course, were met with the sight of a peaceful river.

Until they noticed something scribbled in the snow ahead, they narrowed their eyebrows in confusion and walked over to it, reading the words…

_‘C o m e to W a t e r f a l l ! =] ’_

“ _Waterfall?_ ” Frisk questioned under their breath. 

  
But their eyes widened in shock, they nervously stepped back and sharply looked around.

  
“HELLO?! IS SOMEONE THERE?” they cried out “don’t be scared! I won’t hurt you!” but once they said it, they clenched their fists to their sides in regret, what if they were being tricked? Telling a soul-stealing monster they weren’t going to hurt them probably wasn’t the best message to be sending out right now.

  
…Well…they didn’t want to actually hurt the monster as much as they just wanted to make it stop It’s ways and teach it a lesson, Frisk didn’t technically consider violence a particularly good option for anything, even if they were being threatened, they believed in other ways to disarm others. 

But, Frisk wasn’t completely naïve, they were grown up enough to realize that not everyone could be stopped with understanding and support, some people were just too gone or simply craved sadism.   
So they knew they would have to do what they could to stop this monster, even if it meant fighting back or killing them, they hoped they wouldn’t have to. 

As they waited and carefully eyed the trees, they soon realized they weren’t going to be greeted.

  
Whoever had written them the message had been watching and had done a perfect job at staying hidden and had even given them a location to go to… _even if it was majorly vague._  
No, this person was definitely staying hidden, maybe not even coming out until Frisk made it to wherever this waterfall was. 

  
Frisk let out another sigh and watched the river, maybe it would lead them to the waterfall?

Slowly, they absentmindedly _(and finally)_ zipped up their black jacket, turned around, and walked away, going forward until they spotted a wilted cardboard box, it leaned to the side from what looked like years of neglect, but they perked up excitedly when they noticed a sign, it was a bit dirty and torn from wear and tear, but they managed to make out all of the words.

‘YOU OBSERVE THE VERY WELL- CRAFTED SENTRY STATION.  
WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER…  
I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!  
(NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!)’

  
They automatically grinned in impressed amusement, ah, of course, every good monarchy needed good royal guardsmen, Frisk found themselves hoping that this courageous and funny monster achieved his dreams.   
With their morale now boosted and feeling a little more positive about the journey, Frisk pressed on.

  
They then very soon spotted a real sentry station, but before that, there was a sign.

_‘Absolutely NO MOVING!!!’_

Frisk froze in their spot at the words for a few seconds, legitimately nervous again, obeying it until they noticed the age on this sign too and realized nothing was going to happen at that moment.

  
Still, they walked _very carefully and very slowly_ toward the sentry station, admiring the craftwork of the very cute dog face.  
So… that must meant that had not just royalty but also dogs too.

  
_Frisk was officially impressed._

  
They then came across a sizeable patch of ice with a sign in the middle, thankfully their weather-proof hiking boots made things easy as they slid over the patch, gliding coolly straight to the sign.

  
_‘North: Ice_   
_South: Ice_   
_West: Ice_   
_East: Snowdin Town_   
_(…and ice)’_

“ _Snowdin…_ ,” they echoed, unable to stop themselves from smiling in amusement at the word pun, glad that they finally had an idea of a map in this place, but by the looks of it, there wasn’t much place else to go but east anyway, so to Snowdin town it was. 

Now in a new more positive mood thanks to the new destination, they pressed onward. 

  
But after that, Frisk began another lonely and long walk down the snowy path, nothing really interesting popping out except for a regular ol’ snowman, more trees until they stopped at two joined sentry stations with carved cute doggy faces placed on each.

  
One was labeled ‘His’ and the other was labeled ‘Hers’.

  
In the middle sat a sign that read…

_**‘SMELL DANGER RATING**_

Snow smell - snowman  
WHITE Rating  
Can become YELLOW Rating  
Unsuspicious Smell - Puppy  
BLUE Rating   
Smell of rolling around.  
Weird Smell - Humans  
GREEN Rating  
Destroy at all costs!’

  
  
“…Good thing there’s no one here, I know I must smell _super_ weird…,” Frisk mumbled to themselves. 

After that, the lonely snow road continued on for a while, they noticed even more puzzles and traps that had already been solved, which still made them strangely disappointed.

  
Walking and more walking, the feeling of sadness coming back over them when they came to a sign that read…

  
_‘Warning:  
Dog marriage’_

As cute as it was, Frisk couldn’t help wince as they came to terms that there were not going to get to meet an actual married dog couple, feeling disappointed for reasons they knew better of this time, walking on again.

They traveled quicker this time, getting impatient and frustrated as they walked past more of the already solved puzzles, everything was just starting to look the same without much reward.

At some point they came across another doggy-related sentry station, casually they walked up to the sign, this one seemed a lot more friendly.

  
_‘AWARE OF DOG_   
_Pleas pet dog’_

Frisk smiled gently and continued on, not missing the oddly shaped giant lumps of snow strewn around the area, it looked as if something big and wonderful had been once built but lost its shape over time... 

They then came in sight of a much larger patch of ice ahead that ventured off to a more forest-filled area, and on the right led to another path, out of curiosity they went right, they never knew when they might see a waterfall. 

But what they found in that path terrified them. 

  
Someone…most likely the monster following them…had built a snowman of _Frisk._

  
But not just them as they were now, but as they were when they were _a child._

  
Hesitantly, Frisk stepped toward it…

  
It looked as if was the right height for the age, which looked to be around ten? Maybe nine? The young snow Frisk was small and slightly on the pudgy side, short hair with bangs, wore an oversized long-sleeved shirt, and a tall set of boots that were pulled over their pants.

  
Their expression was kind and sweet.

  
The current real Frisk, could do nothing but stare at it, comparing themselves to it, they weren’t snowy, quite the opposite- they had tan olive skin, light hazel eyes, and chestnut brown hair, and they were grown up now, about five feet, four inches tall actually, but had kept the bangs ( _which could probably use a good trim by now_ ) but had grown out their hair long and safely held up into a ponytail, they'd long ago lost all their baby fat, and today was, of course, wearing a black faux leather jacket with comfortable hiking pants and matching dark hiking boots, still lugging around their backpack full of handy gear, a change of clothes and packaged meals. 

  
The real-life Frisk’s expression however was full of fear and perplexed confusion.

How in the world did the creature know what they looked like as a _child?!_ To their recollection, they never met a monster… but then they finally realized something…

  
Their dreams of the way to Mt. Ebott began ten years ago, roughly the same time its front doorway opened. . .

  
Before all this, Frisk always believed the dreams were possibly visions of the future, as if it were their destiny even.

...As if maybe they were _sent_ here by some other forces at work?

  
But as they stared at the snowclone, a terrible burst of theories and worse case scenarios invaded their thoughts… because, _what if…_

  
What if it was the Monster _themselves_ who had sent them here? Was it possible that it was psychic somehow? Was it able to send visions? Did it track the minds of humans? Or maybe it was also invisible? 

  
It was terrifying to think about, but they couldn’t avoid the evidence and the fact that… sometimes the answer is the most obvious one.

  
And it was clear, that for some reason, this monster had seen and spied on Frisk since they were a child and was obviously very fond of them… or… _trying to fool them_ , either way, it had _(probably?)_ practically beckoned them here with the dreams, it had even made an actually very nice snow sculpture and had attempted to give them directions…

But _why?_

All their life Frisk’s highest praised personality traits were that they were kind, positive, relaxed, respectful, unselfish, peacemaker, almost too forgiving, and a pretty decent listener.   
Other traits were that they were amazingly flirty, funny, and as shone on this journey…highly curious.

  
It was easy to say that they often got along with people, perhaps this is what had lured the monster in, perhaps it was looking for someone pleasant, or pleasant looking- which Frisk didn’t usually brag, but they _definitely_ were NOT ugly. 

  
_But they felt they definitely weren’t ‘model material’ either so…?_

  
Frisk wondered if this monster knew about their flaws too and knew just _how_ forgiving they were… maybe he wanted someone who could easily be manipulated.

  
_If_ manipulation was the case, then hopefully the monster wasn’t aware of just how stubborn Frisk was.

Again, as they did earlier in front of the river, they looked around for any signs of life, deciding to avoid thinking about any other dark reasons why this monster was stalking them, they didn’t need to be anymore scared than they already were. 

  
“Hey, _th_ -this is pretty good, and I’ll admit, it’s…a little creepy that you made it at all.. . but it’s gotten my attention! I don’t know what you want or what any of this means, but I’m coming to meet you okay? Please, don’t hurt me when I do! I _only_ want to talk!” they called out. 

  
They waited for a few seconds, for any sort of response or movement, but as usual, nothing happened.

  
So, hesitantly, they slowly backed away from the area, biting their bottom lip as they left the area, their fear temporarily shaking off as they slid across the pathway and glided through the thick forest, quietly chuckling as they brushed the pile of snow from the top of their head that had fallen from the branches.

They soon found themselves with more of the same, until again, they noticed a single path to the right.

  
Letting out a sigh, they took it, walking and walking until they were met with an amazing and curious landscape view, realizing that Mt. Ebott was _much_ larger than they’d realized. 

  
Far, far, far away in the distance, they saw miles and miles of stretched-out forest, but what caught their eye was the single house in the middle of nowhere, such a normal sight in a strange place.   
It reminded them a lot of the home back in the ruins, more so as they took note that this house also seemed empty from the lack of light in the windows. 

After a moment of taking it all in… they finally noticed the tall gaping hole in the cave wall directly next to them, which of course they entered.

  
They found themselves walking down a much more warmer and very mysterious turquoise hallway, gasping in amazement as soon as they noticed the white sparkling particles that floated aimlessly around, they walked until they entered a small room with four white and blue glowing mushrooms decorating the area.

  
But at the center, a familiar purple door stood, quickly recognizing the rune etched into it, the image had been stamped sparingly around back in the ruins, _they wondered what it meant…_

  
This door looked exactly the same, except…there was no handle present, perhaps it was a push door?

  
They pressed their hand against it, attempting to push, but it was no use…

Again they sighed, turning their attention to the glowing mushrooms, curiously they walked over to one, casually leaning over to give it a playful poke, jumping in surprise when it squeaked and the light went out.

  
Now disappointed and concerned, they hesitantly gave it another more gentle poke, giggling quietly in relief and delight as the light came back on, realizing it was just like a touch-activated lamp.

  
“ _This whole mountain is made out of magic. . .,_ ” they whispered to themselves before they began poking at the mushroom, gleefully turning it off and on a few times in amused glee.

  
But then, then they realized how all four of the mushrooms were all symmetrically arranged around the door, perhaps it was a puzzle to open it? _Imagine, a puzzle in this place that hadn’t been solved yet…_

  
At that line of thought, Frisk grinned in excitement and moved to begin poking at all the mushrooms to turn them off and on in any patterns they could think of.

  
But as they very soon ran out of options, eyes scanning the room for anything else that could be the key but found nothing, their excitement fading, frowning deeply as they crossed their arms. 

  
It seemed disappointment was becoming a regular feeling during this adventure.

Still, this entire place was gigantic and amazing, this room may have stopped them, but they knew for sure that there must be so much more to see…

  
And amazing sights aside, they were getting side-tracked, they were supposed to be looking for a waterfall, weren’t they? And maybe, once and if they ever found this monster and things went well, they’d tell him how beautiful his home was, maybe ask them where everyone went _(hopefully not dead),_ or probably where the key to this freaking door was at. 

  
So as usual, they pressed on, leaving the room behind.


	2. Only Ghost Towns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finds Snowdin and readily decides to explore, running into a few more interesting... surprises...all leading them to the beast ahead.

**Inspiration Song:** Every Breath You Take by The Police

_Every breath you take_   
_Every move you make_   
_Every bond you break_   
_Every step you take_   
_I'll be watching you_

_Every single day_   
_Every word you say_   
_Every game you play_   
_Every night you stay_   
_I'll be watching you_

_Oh, can't you see_   
_You belong to me_   
_How my poor heart aches_   
_With every step you take_

_Every move you make_   
_Every vow you break_   
_Every smile you fake_   
_Every claim you stake_

  
_I'll be watching you_

_Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace_   
_I dream at night I can only see your face_   
_I look around but it's you I can't replace_   
_I feel so cold and I long for your embrace_   
_I keep crying baby, baby please_

After a few more minutes of walking through another snowy path and across a long wooden bridge, they came across what looked like what used to be a comfortably pleasant snowy town, taking notice of the large adorable sign a few feet away.

_'WELCOME TO_ _SNOWDIN’_

They found it very difficult to stop themselves from smirking approvingly at the word pun.

  
They continued walking on, instinctively turning their attention to the first building, it was a conjoined shop and inn, pausing as they debated whether or not to go in or just keep a move on.

  
Out of itching curiosity to see what kind of products these people made, they made a beeline for the shop- _only to find the door was locked._

  
They let out a rough disappointed sigh, and in vain tried the inn as well, their expression growing sour as they found this door was locked too. 

“It’s weird that there are so many locked doors in an abandoned place…,” they mumbled to themselves, eyeing the festively decorated Christmas tree in the distance, not thinking to question its existence due to it fitting in so well with its environment.   
But then their eyebrows raised as they noticed something strange.

The colorful lights strung around the tree were _on._

  
That’s when they noticed something else, out of all the buildings in the village, _only one_ was lit up from the inside…

  
Was the monster… _guiding them?_ ………Or did the owner just not think to turn off the lights?

  
Frisk hoped for the latter, and despite that hope, found themselves growing nervous as they finally noticed something peculiar about the nearby building, the main lights were out, but inside they could see a faint glow, but from what they were unsure...

  
They read the name of the building…

  
_**‘GRILLBY’S’**  
_

Oh, so… a diner? There was even an Open sign…

  
Hesitantly they made their way over and peeked through the window, in the very dim light was able to see that it was indeed a diner, and as they suspected, there were no customers or even a cook or manager to be found, and at this distance was able to see that the mysterious glow was emanating was from…wait, hold on… was that a _jukebox?_

  
_“Oh, so cool,_ ” they whispered, they couldn’t remember the last time they saw one of those in public, realizing that there was something definitely eerie about the sight, but against their better judgment, curiosity got the best of them and they found themselves at the door, growing excited when it opened with ease.

  
But as they stepped inside, their excitement instantly died down as they got a better view of the lonely lit-up jukebox in the still lifeless diner, it was as if it was beckoning to them.

  
Frisk hesitated, standing there for a few seconds before they shook away the nervous feeling in their stomach and finally collected themselves and ambled over to it, trying their best to ignore the creaky floor as they made their way over.

They took their time to study and admire the jukebox... before finally, they reached out to touch a button.

  
But before their fingertip could press down, a song abruptly began playing, causing them to flinch, jerking their hand back in alarm, stunned and frozen in their place as they listened.

_HEY, hey, hey, hey!_   
_Ooohhh...whoooaaa!_

_-Bbbbzzzrrt-!_   
_Won't you come see about me?_   
_I'll be alone, dancing, you know it baby_   
_Tell me your troubles and doubts_   
_Giving me everything inside and out and-_   
_Love's strange, so real in the dark_   
_Think of the tender things that we were working on_   
_Slow change may pull us apart_   
_When the light gets into your heart, baby_

  
Frisk swallowed the nervous lump in the throat as they found their legs and slowly backed up, their hand blindly finding one of the booth’s seats, leaning against it for support as they continued to listen to the singer’s words, finding themselves both fearful and entranced at the same time, never had they ever found this song spooky until now. 

_Don't you.. forget about me_  
 _Don't, don't, don't, don't!  
_ _Don't you.. forget about me_

  
_Will you stand above me?_   
_Look my way, never love me_   
_Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling_   
_Down, down, down_   
_Will you recognize me?_   
_Call my name or walk on by?_   
_Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling_   
_Down, down, down, down_   
**_SsSSSSHHHHpph-!_ **

_Hey, hey, hey, hey!_   
_Ooohhh... **whoooaaa!**_

_Don't you try to pretend_   
_It's my feeling, we'll win in the end_   
_I won't harm you or touch your defenses_   
_Vanity and security_   
  
**_SHHHHHHHHHHH-!_ **

_Don't you forget about me_  
 _I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby_  
 _Going to take you apartttS **SSHHHH** HHHHzzzzt!_  
 _I'll put us back together at heart, baby_

_Don't you... forget about me_   
_Don't, don't, don't, don't_   
_**Don't** you **… forget about me**_   
**_BBBbbbzzz-!_ **

_As you walk on by_   
_Will you call my name?_   
_As you walk on by_   
_Will you call my name?_

_When you walk away_   
_Oh will you walk away?_   
_Will you walk on by?_   
_Come on, call my name_   
_Will you call my name?_

  
_I say:_   
_La lala… la la la la…lala la~_

Seconds after it was finished, Frisk jumped as the power to the entire jukebox abruptly shut off, leaving them in a pitch-black room, their heart beating fast in their chest.

  
It was then that, from close behind, a dark, husky male voice spoke closely into their left ear, one they had never heard before-

  
**“Don’t you have somewhere better to be?”**

  
Barely conscious of the shiver that ran down their spine, Frisk let out a sharp gasp, spinning around to investigate the owner to the voice-

_Only to find no one was there._

  
With their adrenaline now coursing through Frisk’s veins and the front door only a short distance away in front of them, they ran faster than they ever ran before, escaping from the diner as quickly as they possibly could, tripping on their own feet in the process on the way out and falling face-first into the cold snow.

  
For a moment, they didn’t move, they were too stunned to, their mind blank and numb. 

_. . . . . ._

But soon enough, the pin and needles pain from the ice shocked sense back into them, urging them to move again.

  
“ _Ughhh…_ ,” they moaned wearily, pushing themselves up with one arm and rubbing the snow from their face and hair with the other, going in there had definitely not been one of their smartest choices during this trip.

  
They sat up and looked behind them, staring up at the dark diner that loomed over them, mixed emotions bottling up inside them.

“ _That was you, wasn’t it?_ ” they whispered hoarsely, thinking back to the voice that had spoken to them, that just had to be the Monster, this was more than enough evidence to reveal that he was following them.

  
He was probably even watching them right now, probably closer than they wanted him to be.  
 _Damn, they could practically still feel his breath on their ear, finally registering the tingle his voice had sent down their spine. . ._

  
But this was no time to get distracted now…

  
Slowly, they got back on their feet, brushing the rest of the snow from their clothes, they looked around for a moment, a burst of courage and frustration coming over them, balling up their fists.

“Why are you trying to scare me? Why can’t you speak to me now? You’ve made it obvious that you’re watching me!” they called out “ _and where IS everyone?!_ ” 

They waited for a response, but as usual, they got none, the dead quiet of the mountain wearing back down their courage, their anxiety beginning to return.

“F-fine _…be that way…_ ,” they mumbled out weakly.

  
They then walked out a little more, looking left but from where they stood it just seemed to be a few vacant houses and a dead-end to the river, so, they turned their attention back to the only lit building in Snowdin, walking out a little further they found that it was a library or…wait…

“ _Li-brarby??_ ” Frisk whispered in question, cracking a small amused grin. 

It only took them a few seconds to decide whether or not they wanted to go in, with _again_ their curiosity winning out, unsure how they felt when they found that this door was unlocked as well.

  
“Alright, no weird games, okay? I just want to relax for a moment, please let me have this,” they spoke out and looking around, sighing to themselves as they had no response, finally stepping inside.

  
They were met with the sight of the smallest library they had ever seen in their life with a total of only six bookcases in stock, at least it was nice and cozy. 

  
They began at the far right bookshelf filled with dark green books.

_‘Love, hope, compassion…_   
_This is what people say monster SOULS are made of._   
_But the absolute nature of “SOUL” is unknown._   
_After all, humans have proven their SOULS don’t need these things to exist.’_

Frisk narrowed their eyebrows in response to the information, during their trip, they had gathered more than enough information to know that lots of monsters once lived here were definitely lovable creatures, and there was an increasingly upset nagging feeling inside them the more they saw how abandoned everything was, _where_ ** _were they?_** Did the humans do this to them too? 

  
…Again, hopefully, the soul-stealing monster wasn’t responsible.

  
Shaking their head, they moved to the nearby bookshelf.

  
_‘MONSTER HISTORY PART 4_   
_Fearing the humans no longer, we moved out of our old city, Home._   
_We braved the harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat…_   
_Until we reached what we now call our capital._   
_“NEW HOME”_   
_Again, our King is really bad at names…?’_

“Harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat…,” Frisk quoted, then remembered the message in the snow and how it had been worded.  
“ _Is ‘waterfall’ another town..?_ ” they whispered out thoughtfully, it certainly sounded correct after reading this new information.

  
They shrugged, again there was only one way to find out…- once they were done with these books, shuffling over to the next bookcase.

_‘Because they are made of magic, monster’s bodies are attuned to their SOUL._   
_If a monster doesn’t want to fight, its defenses will weaken._   
_And the crueller the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us._   
_Therefore, if a being with a powerful SOUL struck with the desire to kill…_   
_Um, let’s end the chapter there…’_

Absentmindedly, Frisk nodded, still not completely sure what they were going to do when the Monster finally showed himself, they absolutely didn’t want to fight, but at least now they had an idea of what to do if things got rough.  
They moved to the fourth bookcase.

  
_‘(Here I am…_   
_Writing this book.)_   
_(A person comes in and picks up the book…)_   
_(They start reading it… !)’_

At that Frisk looked up and spun around, finally expecting to find the Monster standing there, but as usual, there was no one, still, they held their breath.

  
“Mr. Monster…?” they asked nervously.

  
They waited for a few seconds before it finally dawned on them that this was either another mean joke or the author simply had not finished, it didn’t matter, they were embarrassed now, quickly turning back to put the book away.  
Uncomfortably itching at a place behind their left ear, they moved to the fifth bookcase.

_‘While monsters are mostly made of magic, humans beings are mostly made of water._   
_Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us._   
_But they will never know the joy of expressing themselves through magic._   
_They’ll never get a bullet-pattern birthday card…’_

  
“That’s true… _I definitely don’t know the joys of magic_ ,” they mumbled in agreement. 

They soon came to the last bookcase, finding what appeared to be a school report about monster funerals…

  
_‘Monster funerals, technically speaking, are cool as heck._   
_When monsters get old and kick the bucket, they turn into dust._   
_At funerals, we take that dust and spread it on that person’s favorite thing._   
_Then their essence will live on in that thing…_   
_Uhhh, am I at the page minimum yet? I’m kinda sick of writing this.’_

Cracking a sad smile, finally taking in the realization that there were a lot of books on the subject of death and the comparisons between monsters and humans, and how much stronger humans are than them. These kind creatures had been oppressed and forced into this underground world and made the best of a terrible situation, still, it was easy to see that there was an apparent sadness that lingered in their lives.

  
For the first time since coming down here, Frisk’s perception of the Monster changed.

  
Was the fabled horrible Monster that had stolen the souls of the humans- actually horrible at all?

  
The idea had crossed their mind a few times before, but killing was wrong- always.

  
But that was the thing, Frisk didn’t know the full story, what if the humans who had seen him tried to kill him first and he had to protect himself? The books _did_ say humans were much stronger. . . 

  
What if he was forced to fight back in defense? What if the deaths were accidents? 

  
When he had spooked them in the diner, that could have been an attempt to get them to hurry up and meet him… or maybe to just… _leave?  
_. . . . No, the message in the snow told them he was probably very eager to see them.

But that was another issue that was bugging them, it was very apparent that he didn’t want any humans in the mountain, _but why did he choose them? What was so special about Frisk?_

  
So many questions, so little patience left...

  
“Time to go,” they said and with a turn of their booted heel, walked out of the librarby. 

As they got back into the journey, they were quickly stopped again when they got a better view of the house next door, again they were finding something that seemed to draw them in, unsure of the deep pang of sadness the came over them as they gazed at the cheerful Christmas lights strung all around it, the oddly placed skull and bones pirate flag, and the cute wreath hung upon the front door. 

  
They then noticed the two mailboxes, both were empty but the one on the left was a little worse from wear and bent around the edges _(as if it had been once overstuffed)_ while the other one next to was in perfect condition and was labeled… ‘Papyrus’.   
Unable to help themselves, they went for the front door, but… they let out a weary sigh when they found it locked, their hand lingering against the knob for a moment. 

  
Why were they getting sad anyway? What _was_ it about this place? 

  
Well… whatever it was, they had to shake it off, they couldn’t allow themselves to get too distracted, not again after what happened in the diner. 

So they pushed on, biting their lip as they took note of the river nearby the path, noticing how the water flow seemed to be going a little faster than before. 

  
They also certainly noticed the misty air thicken around them as they continued on, walking faster as their view became filled with nothing but whiteness. . . holding their breath as they hurried . . .

. . . . . .

But fortunately, just as fast as the mist came, it was soon gone, allowing Frisk to let out a sigh of relief, and fully unzip their black jacket as they noticed the temperature had become much warmer. 

  
And because of that, the snowy path that they had become well acquainted with began to recede, allowing them a return view of the dark purple ground underneath, their whole surroundings becoming more and more cavernous the further they walked, the whole area seemed to become darker actually from the lack of white snow, but there was a few noticeable _(magic?)_ glowing rocks embedded into the mountain walls. 

  
Frisk had become so entranced by the new sights that they just _b a r e l y_ noticed the small white almost translucent creature lying down on the ground nearby another sentry post… who didn’t quite seem to notice Frisk either.

  
Instead, their eyes naturally drifted to the glowing cyan flower nearby, so of course, they walked over to it, they gaped in surprise as an unknown voice emanated from it. 

  
‘ _Never trust a flower… that’s one of the constants in this world,’_

  
That was weird, did it have a mind or…?

  
“Hello?” they asked it quietly, unsure.

_'hello?’_ it repeated.

“How are you?”

_‘how are you?’_

Frisk had to laugh at themselves “you just repeat things like a parrot, don’t you? I had a toy like you once,”

_'you just repeat things like a parrot, don’t you? I had a toy like you once,’_

“I love you, you’re good looking and I hope you have a beautiful day,”

_‘I love you, you’re good looking and I hope you have a beautiful day,’_

  
Grinning in satisfaction, they turned their attention away from the flower, which was when they finally took notice of the creature lying on the ground, freezing where they stood, their mouth gaping open in shock, but they were unable to keep quiet for too long.

  
“Oh my goodness! I finally found someone!” they uttered out, which, of course _(finally)_ grabbed the creature’s attention, sitting up and revealing themselves to be what looked be a ghost. 

  
It was then that Frisk realized the situation “no- wait, are you the Monster in The Mountain?” 

  
The ghost looked puzzled before finally, they spoke “…ummm, yes? I’m a monster… and I’m…in a mountain, I guess?” 

  
Frisk was filled with relief as they heard their voice, this one was _definitely_ not the creature they were looking for, there was not even a speck of malice in their white wide eyes. 

  
So, they smiled calmly “I apologize if I surprised you, it’s just really nice to meet you, I was really worried there was no one here but the soul-stealing monster and me,”

The ghost stared vacantly at them for a few seconds before It’s frown deepened “…oh…..this is awkward, I’m sorry to disappoint you… but it _was_ just us……now i guess there are only three of us…,” 

  
Frisk narrowed their eyebrows, their frown dropping “just you two here?” 

  
“...yeah…..i woke up one day with him standing in front of me… and…… no memory of anything… he said that i belonged to him…like a permanent servant, i guess… except he doesn’t really bother to talk to me anymore unless he wants something…… it gets really lonely sometimes……and- _ah… you probably didn’t want to hear all that ….sorry_ ,”

  
They held a defensive hand, their expression sad “no, it’s okay, I don’t mind,” 

  
The ghost paused for a second until something seemed to pass behind their eyes “oh…. i just remembered something… i hope this isn’t weird, but is your name frisk?” they asked.

  
They nodded slowly “yeah, how did you know?”

  
“he said you were coming… and that he’s been…… _waiting…_ ,” they said.

  
Frisk grimaced “yeah, I kind of noticed, I’ve got a question myself, but does this area doesn’t happen to be called… ‘waterfall’ by chance?” 

  
“yeah . . . it is…. and it’s the only place where i’m allowed to be. . .,” the ghost said in a weary sigh.

  
With that comment, Frisk swallowed a lump in their throat, hiding how nervous they actually were, and walked over to them “that’s not fair, this mountain is gigantic and so is the rest of the world, you should be able to go where you want, you should be free,” 

  
The ghost didn’t say anything to that, they only looked up at Frisk with a deep hopeless morose expression, a few ghostly tears falling from their eyes. 

  
Forgetting all of their fears, Frisk frowned sympathetically, leaning down to the ghost’s eye level “it’ll be okay, I promise I’ll help you, so, what’s your name?”,” they asked.

  
“ _... i… don’t know…_ i guess i forgot it with the rest of my memories… but I decided to call myself t-drop… since…crying is all I seem to be good at…,” T-Drop mumbled out, letting more tears drop. 

  
They smiled a little at that “I’m sure there’s a lot more you’re good at, and y’know, not to be rude, but ‘T-Drop’ sort of sounds like a DJ name, it’s very cool,” 

  
T-Drop’s eyes lit up briefly at that “do you think so? i… always really liked music… i’ve tried to make my own music… but… _… he…_ he.. always told me that i was wasting my time, that no one is ever going to listen,” 

  
Frisk shook their head “as long as no one gets hurt, _nothing_ is a waste of time if you enjoy doing it, the monster is just a big giant bully,” 

  
T-Drop’s wide eyes grew big at that _“sssssshhhhhhhh…!_ be careful of what you say.. . he has a temper,” 

  
Frisk’s frown became stubborn, as scared as they were about meeting the monster, running into someone like T-Drop had suddenly renewed and revived their courage and anger to put a stop to his ways once and for all! 

  
“It’s fine, I can handle him, so don’t you worry about anything, okay?” Frisk promised. 

  
T-Drop seemed unconvinced “but….how do you _know…?_ ”

  
Frisk’s let out a weak laugh “ _…I don’t_ …but I gotta try, that’s all we can ever do, y’know?” 

  
“ _you’re…. a lot braver than i could ever be……..i hope he doesn’t kill you,_ ” T-Drop whispered.

  
Frisk was quiet for a few seconds before they let out a sigh…

  
“Yeah, me too, so… do you know where he is exactly?” 

  
T-Drop motioned to the pathway ahead where there was an area of water that overflowed over the edge, and a small bridge that went out and winded in front of it to nowhere in particular.  
  
But before Frisk could ask any more questions, T-Drop faded from view, disappearing.

  
They let out a deep sigh, crossing their arms out in front of them anxiously…. trying their hardest to keep it together, keeping their breathing slow and steady as they tried their hardest to continue to think positive thoughts. 

  
_They could do this! They HAD to do this! They just had to stay strong!_

  
Pulling their arms back down to their sides, they let out one last sigh.

“… _Alright, ready or not, here I come_ ,” they whispered to themself and forced their legs to move on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used- 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds


	3. Empty Handed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finally meets the monster behind the stories, finding themselves completely and utterly shocked and unprepared... but they refuse to give up.

**Inspiration Song** : Dark Horse by Katy Perry

_I knew you were_   
_You were gonna come to me_   
_And here you are_   
_But you better choose carefully_   
_'Cause I'm capable of anything_   
_Of anything and everything_

_Make me your Aphroditus_   
_Make me your one and only_   
_But don't make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy_

_So you wanna play with magic_   
_Boy, you should know what your falling for_   
_Baby do you dare to do this_   
_'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse_

_Are you ready for, ready for_   
_A perfect storm, a perfect storm_   
_'Cause once you're mine, once you're mine_   
_There's no going back_

_Mark my words_   
_This love will make you levitate_   
_Like a bird_   
_Like a bird without a cage_   
_But down to earth_   
_If you choose to walk away, don't walk away_

_It's in the palm of your hand now baby_   
_It's a yes or no, no maybe_   
_So just be sure before you give it up to me_   
_Up to me, give it up to me_

“… _Alright, ready or not, here I come_ ,” they whispered to themselves and forced their legs to move on.

They even ignored the sign by another _(probably also locked)_ box nearby, there was no time for stalling.

By the looks of it, the nearby waterfall that flowed over the ground looked to be only a foot deep, it was safe to walk across.

But… as soon as they stepped down…a hidden door behind the waterfall opened up.

Suddenly it was like the world was moving in slow motion…

Gliding out from the doorway was an elegant and slender, maybe eight feet tall, white-furred monster dressed in a long black ragged robe- with a familiar rune displayed on the chest.

His wispy ripped-up collar flaring behind his head, with long thin floppy ears that reached past his shoulders and great wavy thin sharp horns that slicked backward that pointed upward in the back, and had a dramatic fringe of hair that swooped out from his forehead.

Once he saw them and their eyes connected, he stopped in place, a distinct smile forming on his long goat muzzle, showing off his many fangs. 

But the very first thing Frisk noticed and couldn’t look away from- was the monster’s eyes, it was like something straight from out of a horror sci-fi movie, his sclera was alarmingly pitch black, while the iris was a striking crimson red, and the pupils…were diamond-shaped, much like a cat’s or snake’s.

Underneath his eyes, was a symmetrical thin black patch of fur in the shape of a waning crescent.

“For someone who has come to subdue me and had all the time in the world to prepare, you have made a ****huge mistake**** in not bringing a ****weapon**** ,” he spoke, it was clear he was the owner of the same husky voice they had heard in the diner.

  
  
Frisk had _finally found_ the great Monster in the Mountain.

But their thoughts were ... _elsewhere.._ as they were still caught up in looking him over, realizing that while yes, he was grandly intimidating and fearsome, he was also at the same time grandly beautiful and alluring, it was clear Frisk was losing concentration of the gravity of the situation.

“ _Whoa, hot…mamamia_ ,” they rasped out, their cheeks warm, “you are _definitely not_ what I expected,”

The monster raised a skeptical eyebrow “and what did you expect...?”

“Not this tall, dark, and handsome creature standing before me that’s for sure,” Frisk boasted in all honest seriousness.

The monster was silent for a few seconds, his diamond pupils dilating, the only evidence that he was in some way affected by the compliment.

But Frisk took his silence as disapproval, maybe even disgust, finally realizing that they shouldn’t have flirted with an abusive, soul-stealing, monster in the first place, a strong feeling of shame washing over them in waves.

“ _Good looks aside,_ it’s not going to stop me from putting an end to your ways!” they announced, their hands curling back into fists.

“Again, with what? Do you intend to swing your backpack at me? Strangle me with your climbing rope? I think not,” he teased, as he opened his mouth wider, Frisk could see that the inside of his mouth was black, even his sharp tongue was a dark grey.

Frisk pursed their lips together for a moment, staring at their opponent hard, “how do you know what I do or don’t have?”

The monster laughed “I have been watching you for far longer than you know, and since you were coming to see me, I was curious to see what you would bring, tsk-tsk, it’s clear your planning skills need work,”

Frisk squinted a judgemental eye at him, well that definitely confirmed their suspicions “oh, I can tell you’ve been spying on me, I saw that snowkid clone of me back there, what was _that_ all about? It was really creepy,”

At that, the monster scowled, “ ** _ **shut up**_** , you came here to put an end to me, ****stop**** wasting your time and fight and get it over with if you think you’re so high and mighty,”

They let out an uncomfortable sigh, but they kept a stiff upper lip “alright, fine, can you at least tell me your name first?”

He then grinned wide, again showing off his sharp teeth in the process, cackling in anticipation, it was clear that he usually didn’t a get chance to do this often.

  
“You can call me- The Absolute GOD of Hyperdeath!”

Frisk’s eyes widened, they could feel the blush from earlier along with all the blood in their face drain and go pale _, had they heard him right?_

“Did you say… that you…were a… _‘god’?_ ”

He cackled again, crueler this time “I did indeed, not so confident anymore, _are you?_ ”

Frisk grit their teeth, no… they had set on this trip knowing full and well that they were going against a powerful creature that was able to steal souls and clearly go anywhere without being seen.

God or not, this creature was someone who needed to be STOPPED, _no matter what._

They just wished they hadn’t forgotten to bring a weapon, feeling incredibility stupid right now…until-wait no, they had a multitool pocket knife! They had completely forgotten it until now, it wasn’t practical for this type of situation, but it could still be used as a weapon! Ohoho, this God was _sneaky!_

“No, I’m still confident, y’wanna know why? Because I’m _never, ever_ going to stop fighting for what’s right, and you want to know something else? I _do_ have a weapon!” they announced and stuck their hand in their pants pocket, revealing the multitool proudly “I’ll admit, it’s not much but- _viola!_ ”

They felt uncomfortable flicking out the knife out, but pushed the feeling away and positioned themselves in what felt like a defensive fighting stance, holding their weapon out in front of them.  
“I consider myself a pacifist and didn’t want things to escalate to this, but if fighting is the only choice I have to stopping you, then let’s _fight_ Mr. Hyperdeath!” they insisted.

Instead, the God caught them off guard when he let out a much heartier laugh, clapping “well _done!_ I honestly really didn’t think you had it in you! You’re an idiot, but a very brave and tenacious idiot nonetheless, it’s quite admirable actually,”

Frisk blinked, still keeping the multitool raised protectively, but now utterly confused “… _what?_ ”

His amused grin grew smug “that’s right, I have no interest in 'fighting you’, I was just messing with you to see how you’d react, because you see…as much fun as it would be to see you swing that tiny thing around only for me to obliterate you, it would be a waste of time and energy- for you mostly, as you’d never stand a second with me with or without that useless thing, and _well,_ I simply have no desire to get rid of you, you are much more interesting to me alive than dead,”

Frisk’s lips twisted at the news, now more unsure than anything now, a part of them felt that they should be relieved, instead, they felt only awkward and uneasy, finding it hard to put the tool back in their pocket.  
“ _Okay_ , _I...guess that’s good,_ _th_ -then… _I…uh_ …then I’ll do what I came to do instead and… negotiate peacefully, so…um, what do you _want?_ What can I do for you to… _behave?_ ”

As the words left Frisk’s mouth, they immediately felt stupid, but they quickly reminded themselves of T-Drop, becoming certain of one thing, and it was to save the poor little ghost from the beast.

The creature’s eyebrows raised and he smiled at them mysteriously.

“That is a very loaded question, I want a lot of things, most of which are things that I can acquire on my own, and most of which I have already done, but there is one constant issue that has been plaguing me for quite a long time, which is boredom and loneliness… and as you can see, it has just been only me and my little ghost friend-,”

“ _I can see_ that you’re controlling and horrible to them, as far as I can tell you don’t deserve them and you probably wouldn’t be lonely or bored if you just treated them with respect!” Frisk blurted out boldly, their anger returning and flaring at the mention of T-Drop.

At that, he snarled his fangs at them “ ** _ **don’t interrupt me!**_** _That_ ** _ **ghost**_** would have no singular idea what to do without my guidance, and I wouldn’t have treated them the way I have if they didn’t _WHINE AND CRY_ all the time!”

Frisk waved their hands out in disbelief and exasperation, “ _excuse me?_ That’s no reason to abuse someone! That’s like- the very opposite thing you should do!”

He rolled his eyes “did you not hear me earlier? I am a GOD, which means I am entailed and entitled to do anything and treat anyone the way I want! Or have you and your tiny brain not comprehended that yet?”

Frisk glared and let out a long sigh “ _oh yes_ , I’ve comprehended _too_ much…,” they said, biting back any more bold complaints, remembering themselves and who exactly they were talking to, it didn’t feel wise to anger this creature any more than they already had…

  
“But.. let’s get back on track, what do you _want?_ You’ve been watching me longer than I want to know and it’s super clear you’ve practically lured me here with whatever godly powers you have, but…why? _Why_ , out of all the other humans, did you pick _me?_ ”

To their dismay, he didn’t immediately answer them, instead, he glided over the water, stopping until he was a few feet in front of them, his presence now, even more, overwhelming in this short distance.

“ _An- and_ …what do I have to do make you _stop, and change your ways?_ ” Frisk added with one more small spark of courage, the rising fear in the tone of their voice betraying them.

But what surprised them was the pained looked that appeared in his black and red eyes.

“I don’t want to say… but maybe you will cooperate if I show some honesty… you see, a decade ago, after a horrifying event that I won’t go into- I came into my god powers, at first all I could think of was the raw power I held, I… reveled in my strength,”

He paused, smiling strongly “I did everything you could possibly imagine and more, the first action on the list was breaking the barrier that held my kind here for thousands of years, and a part of my powers is that I have the ability to go back in time… but…,”

His smile then faded as his focus drifted from Frisk’s face, his expression turning bitter.

_“Unfortunately_ … I have found that in _every_ timeline where I venture out into the city and make myself visible- the humans group up, gather the best of their firearms, guns, missiles, bombs, you name it- and try to kill me, and to my amazement, they _always almost_ succeed, so, instead of having the complete freedom that I deserve, I have decided to lock myself away in here inside my empty kingdom,”

Frisk’s mouth gaped open in surprise _… “_ so, when the people who searched mountain came and saw you…,”

“They were scared and wanted to kill me, yes, **_**most humans**_** will aim violence at anything they can’t fathom, so, I had to protect myself, I had to teach them to stay away, the… _hard way_ , and as you have noticed have made the correct move in boarding back up the doorway, but I’ll always be prepared with my own backup plans… _just in case they ever change their minds_ ,”

“ _I see._.,” Frisk said, conflicted, so they _had_ been right about their suspicion back in the library, still, it didn’t change the fact that this God was still terrible and violent.

“After a year or two of the solitary confinement was when my problem began, I grew incredibly bored and… lonely, my ‘ghost friend’ just wasn’t enough to fully entertain me, so, one day, neck-deep in monotony, I decided that enough was enough, so- undetected, I searched the city for any kind of entertainment I could find, even if it was human-related, and in my search, I spotted _you…,”_

He pointed to Frisk for emphasis. 

“This… tiny infuriatingly soft but stubborn human who _understood so much_ but never _judged_ … and then that’s when I saw your powerful soul, it was like a… ‘beacon light’ compared to all the other souls around you… at first, I thought of stealing it, but realized it would be too much of a waste without you attached to it, no, instead, I felt that… perhaps I could find a… let's call it… a ‘friend’ in you, the only problem was that I could never show myself to you without risking other humans finding out about me, so, I did the only thing I could and psychically linked myself to you, which has allowed me to pinpoint you, finding you wherever may be, watching pieces of your life since you were a child, all from the mountain,”

Frisk stared up at him silently, thinking hard with mixed emotions, not completely convinced of the ‘friendly psychic attachment’ part and could certainly tell he was trying his hardest to butter them up, if he was lying about all this they couldn’t dismiss that he was a pretty good actor.

But then again, what if he was being honest? Frisk was _never_ one to judge or at least judge harshly, and apart from the god’s story and his blaring mean streak, they barely knew anything about him, so, what if he _was_ telling the truth? He seemed genuine enough. . .

A part of them wanted to sympathize and help somehow, give this big bully the benefit of the doubt, but at the moment it was becoming increasingly difficult to feel any sincere feelings when they were currently being blindsided due to being _very_ creeped at finding out that had spent a good chunk of their life being SPIED ON!

“ _How much_ of my life _have_ you seen exactly? How old are you?” they blurted out with a second thought, almost immediately regretting it for multiple reasons.

The God’s current frown deepened and he nodded, looking rather uncomfortable himself “… _right_ , _I knew that part most of all would bother you_ …,”

“Yes, it definitely bothers me, wouldn’t it bother you if you found out that you’ve been watched by an unknown source for several years? It’s just… _creepy! And_ _sleazy!_ Ju- just tell me the truth okay? …You owe me that much,”

He grew stiff, visually uncomfortable, quiet for a moment as if he were embarrassed ( _at the situation or with himself they’d never know)_ and almost even shy, but he begrudgingly confessed  
“Fine, the truth is that I _only_ watched you when I was bored or disconsolate,”

Frisk narrowed their brows, not completely convinced, maybe it was best to just get to the point “ _…I see…and_ … _is there a chance that…you… ever happened to see me…y’know…_ _naked?_ ”

The God winced uneasily, his voice dripping with shame “I never tried on purpose, but…there were times… I believe… that I… might have accidentally seen _too much-,”_

Frisk audibly gasped, completely appalled and embarrassed, showing signs of wanting to run away.

The God of course was quick to add- “-BUT I _ALWAYS_ looked away! Because watching you wasn’t some… some.. . . _perverted_ hobby I had, or…or …ugh.. ‘ _got off’_ on, _no_ , to me, it wasn’t too much different than watching birds or animals out of curiosity, I’m a civilized God, I have standards- unlike most of you _filthy humans…_ and, if it makes you feel any better, I’m somewhere in my twenties… I’ve… lost track of the exact age, no thanks to my ability to time travel, all I know is that I am only a little older than you, there, are you happy?”

At the news of his age, Frisk ran a hand through their bangs, several thoughts running through their head “so- no… _wait_ … that would have made you a child too when you became a God…is that right?”

He nodded “that’s correct,”

Ah… they never would have suspected this, it didn’t make things better or worse but it really turned the whole issue on its head, didn’t it? He wasn’t ancient or as entirely all omniscient as they suspected, it actually explained why he was so desperate for a friend and had spied on them, he had been a _(most likely depressed)_ lonely overpowered child who had been forced to lock himself away. . .

As much as the news put a surge within their emotions- his history explained his behavior, but it would _never excuse_ his actions, Frisk couldn’t allow themselves to get completely wound up in his problems, they had to approach this situation carefully.

“ _So._. . it’s my friendship you’re after…?” they asked.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘friendship’ anymore, what _I’m after_ is your _prolonged_ _presence_ ,” he finally admitted.

Frisk stared at him skeptically “I don’t know about a ‘prolonged’ stay, maybe if you learn to control your emotions and be considerate of others feelings- then maybe I can make monthly visits,”

He smirked at that “hmm, while that is a very nice offer, what if we went a step further and I _promised_ to behave if you made _weekly visits?_ Mind you, a God NEVER goes back on their word,”

Frisk winced, and backed up, a bad feeling rising in their chest.  
“Oh no, no, no, no- I’ll admit I’ve made some stupid choices, but I’m not _that_ stupid, and I realize that you’ve been in pain for a very long time, but I’m _not_ just going to stop my life to stay with you on a whim only to end up having you treat me the way you treat T-Drop!”

The monster paused, confused “ _who…?_ ”

“The ghost! That’s _exactly_ what I’m talking about, you don’t even know their name!” they fumed.

He sneered “ _alright_ , I suppose I can understand where you are taking this, but… _hm_ ,” the God’s features shifted as an idea crossed his mind, a cool, sly, smirk growing on his muzzle.

“Perhaps… we can make ‘T-Drop’ part of a… _deal?”_

“No way!” Frisk answered a little too quickly.

Bad move, Frisk’s mouth gaped open in fear as the God of Hyperdeath’s smirk dropped in an instant, showing his fangs again in an angry snarl.

With one fluid movement he crooked over dramatically until his face was inches from Frisk’s, making it difficult for them to look away or at anything else, and when they attempted to move away he firmly grabbed at their arm with a long but skinny hand that dwarfed their entire forearm.

“ ** **You**** ** _ **WILL**_** ** **listen to me you vapid idiot, I am suggesting a deal for T-Drop’s**** ** _ **complete**_** ** _ **freedom,**_** ** **are you interested in that?**** ” he inquired, his voice low, deep, and dangerous in their ears. 

“...I am…,” they said, sounding as bold as they could.

“ ** **Part of this deal entails that I will never harm or kill another soul…or ghost… ever again,**** ** _ **do you like the sound of that?**_** ” he questioned further, daring to lean in a little closer.

They swallowed a lump in their throat, they were sure he could hear their heart pounding away.

“ _Yes,_ yes I do, I just don’t like how your borderline threatening me to get my attention, you’re- _you’re... ah_ , sending me very mixed messages,”

He let out a deep throaty chuckle that sent chills down their spine, but at the same time they felt themselves growing hot and becoming acutely aware of the way he began to playfully brush his thumb over their wrist, the action making Frisk now fully realize that they weren’t just scared, but now pretty turned on too…

“ ** _ **Fine**_** ** **, there will be no more threatening either, all you need to do is take T-Drop’s place and do my bidding, oh, and to bind the deal, I will need your soul**** ,”

Frisk’s eyes widened and fearfully jerked back, now more scared than anything, they’d do _anything_ to help another person in need, but…

“My _soul?_ You mean-,”

“ ** **No you fool, I thought I made it clear that I am not going to**** ** _ **kill**_** ** **you, I can make it so that you can survive without your soul inside your body, you’ll still be linked to it and it will continue to keep you the same, but it will be in MY possession,**** ” he informed.

They gave him a deeply skeptical expression “…you won’t be able _t-_ to… ‘ _mind control’ me, will you?_ ”

“ ** _ **No**_** ** **, your autonomy and independence is more fascinating to me, except… with your soul in my possession, you won’t ever be able to leave the mountain… but I’m not entirely ruthless,**** ** _ **maybe**_** ** **if you do something nice for me, then**** ** _ **maybe**_** ** **I’ll let you out once and a while..**** ,”

They stared at him with a deep firm frown “you say that as if you already know that I’ll make the deal,” 

“ ** _ **I don’t,”**_** he then grinned, his expression thoughtful, his eyes glimmering at them…

****“But I**** ** _ **do**_** ** **know you were living a painfully boring life in a painfully dead-end job, all alone in that apartment with not even any plans of college or even an idea for the future, and… in my own way I know how all of that feels, and I**** ** _ **know**_** ** **you hate the silence just as much as I do, we are not so different in these regards, so, tell me you wouldn’t like the idea of a new life? I wouldn’t abuse you- that would be breaking the deal, no, by**** ** _ **my**_** ** **side- I can show you places and things you could never**** ** _ **imagine**_** ,”

Frisk’s frown deepened, thinking things over, when they had prepared for this trip, they had gone over the possibility of somehow getting trapped and never being able to leave… they had left a goodbye note near their front door if that had been the case.

They had been _so_ hopeful that they’d be able to go back home safely and crumple up that note.

The deal was _almost_ too good to pass up, and yes, the idea of getting to rescue T-Drop and preventing any other people from getting hurt was exactly what they wanted in the first place, and getting away from their boring life and lonely apartment was just the icing on the cake, and maybe, if the God liked them enough as much as he said, there was always a chance they could somehow persuade him into freedom… ‘ _if you truly love someone, let them go_ ’ wasn’t that part of the saying?

But then again… there was always a chance The God could be cruelly deceiving them and break the deal and harm T-Drop or harm them, they knew they would be absolutely powerless to stop him if he caught them off guard.

“How can I know you won’t break the deal? How can I really trust you?” they asked.

This piqued the God’s attention, he had to think this over for a moment, standing up straight and easing up his grip on Frisk’s arm.

But it didn’t take him too long to answer, speaking with a more normal, much calmer voice.

“I will create binding rules for the both of us in a contract and will keep your soul locked away in view on a shrine, perhaps in the throne room, if either of us breaks the deal, the shrine will break, and who ever broke the deal- the other will receive the soul,” he explained.

“So, if you hurt T-Drop, me, or anyone else…?”

“The deal is _broken_ , the shrine will break and you will get your precious soul back. Now, if you try to leave the boundaries of the mountain, the same will happen, except I will receive your soul and will be _very angry with you_ ,”

“What if you _accidentally_ hurt someone?” they asked.

“It’s all the same, if I mess up I will have to bear the consequences, I am mature enough to realize that, are you?” he questioned.

Frisk nodded firmly “yes,”

“Good,” he then let go of their arm, floating a few feet away to give them back their personal space, “should I give you a moment alone to process this conversation, or have you made up your mind?”

“I think I’ve gotten it figured out, I just want to know one thing,” they asked.

“What is it?”

“How long do you intend to… uh… ‘ _keep me’?_ ”

He grinned mischievously at that “we’ll have to see, it all depends how well you are able to _keep me entertained_ ,”

Frisk puffed up their cheeks and exhaled the air out, squinting a Look up at him, “if you keep wording things in that ‘way’, that I’m not sure you’re going to get this deal you want,”

His grin dropped, his expression blank with confusion.

Frisk shook their head “c’mon, ‘ _do something nice for me_ ’, ‘ _keep me entertained'_? I don’t want to know how much you saw of my love life, and I know you’re a God and all and that you think you can get anything you want, but pal, I can see through that ‘civilized’ act, and I _swear_ by all the salt in my body, I am _NOT_ or will _EVER_ be your prostitute!”

The God’s eyes widened in scandalized shock, pupils a pinprick and his jaw dropping almost comically, “ ** **THAT WASN’T AN ‘ACT’ YOU OBSCENE LITTLE FREAK! YOU PERVERSELY MISCONSTRUED MY WORDS! I MADE IT ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that I was NOT interested in treating you that way!**** ”

They waved their arms out in confusion “ _then what DID you mean?!_ ”

“ ** **Go out and do things for me! Solve intense difficult puzzles! Say something interesting!**** ** _ **Anything**_** ** **other than what you were thinking in your**** ** _ **tiny little FILTHY brain!!**_** ” he yelled, pointing a clawed finger at their sweet pony-tailed head for emphasis.

For the first time since meeting him, Frisk couldn’t help but crack a smile, biting their bottom lip to hold back their embarrassed laughter “alright, I get it already! You’re asexual! Stop making fun of me!”

The God snapped his jaw closed with an audible click, staring at them with wild perplexed eyes, still holding out an accusing finger “you assume too much, I never said that I never said _anything_ like that, I was merely repelled by your comments because the very idea that I could ever be interested in a human in that way is disgusting, _you_ are disgusting!”

Feeling ever so slightly disappointed and even more now embarrassed, but still able to find the conversation pretty funny despite the rejection, Frisk awkwardly ducked their head down.

“Wow… _uh… well.._ now that you mention I guess I did assume a lot, I’m sorry…I guess it makes the spying thing you did a _little less terrible?_ Not that you’re off the hook for that or anything, it’s still weird,”

The God let out an odd annoyed groan in response “it’s obvious your mind is too clouded to think properly, I should let you be to air everything out, if you decide you want to make this deal, meet me up ahead and we shall go over the rules, I’ll be waiting further down the hall, next door to the room with the bell, it will be obvious, just follow the flowers,”

They looked up at him “and if I decide not to?”

“ ** _ **Then stop wasting my time, turn around and never**_** ** _ **come back**_** ,” he instructed, his voice full of venom.

And with a swift movement and a shift in the fabric of space, he warped away from them, leaving Frisk stunned for many different reasons, vacantly recognizing the bizarre sound to the same strange sound that spooked them when they scaled down inside the mountain.

He really _had_ been following them every step of the way, _hadn’t he?_

But the realization was short-lived as they suddenly grew frustrated as they made a new realization, anger building up inside their chest.

This Godly creature had watched them for a decade, practically lured them into this mountain, watched from afar, knowing their intentions and probably knowing how scared they were, having the gal to frighten them in the diner, then charmed them with a cool entrance and good looks, made them feel sorry for him- then attempted to make a deal with them for their _life!_

And then worst of all, he tried to make them feel _guilty_ if they decided to turn him _down!_

“Waste _your time? You’re the giant jerk who’s been manipulating me_ ,” Frisk grumbled under their breath, standing there in growing frustration as they stewed over things.

They had come to teach him a lesson, to an extent they still wanted to, in fact, this almost made them want to try more, but they refused to be used like this…

There was also the big issue with T-Drop, they didn’t want to leave the poor ghost alone with the God anymore than they already had, there just _had_ to be a way to rescue them-

It was then that Frisk had a very brave idea, making their next decision then and there.

They turned around and made a short walk back to the previous room, thankful to see T-Drop now lying on the ground next to the glowing flower.

They made a point to casually sit next to them, “so, I… just had a…uh, very interesting talk,”

“...you’re… mad at me aren’t you…?”

Frisk narrowed their eyebrows, “why would I be mad at you?”

The small ghost sniffed back a few tears “i…….i… should have warned you…that he was a god… but i didn’t, i was afraid you wouldn’t believe me…,”

Frisk let out a small chuckle, “heh, after coming here, I’ll believe in anything…but no, I’m not mad at you, nothing could have prepared me enough for the person I just met back there, but you were right, he does definitely have a temper,”

“.…….. _i heard him yell at you….i was really worried…. i wanted to stop him………but i… couldn’t move, i guess i’m just too pathetic, i’m sorry_ ,” T-Drop admitted tiredly.

Frisk shook their head gently “no, you’re not pathetic at all, you’re just scared and you’ve been through a lot, no one can blame you if you freeze up sometimes, none of this is your fault, all that matters that in the end, is that you _wanted to_ ,”

More tears fell from T-Drop’s eyes, a gracious smile appearing on their ghostly face “…. _thank you…_ you’re really nice…,”

Frisk smiled back then let out a nervous sigh “I wish we could talk more, but I need to hurry, the God is waiting for me to make an important decision about a deal, did you hear our conversation about it?”

T-Drop’s smile dropped, staring at Frisk carefully for a moment “…no…after he yelled…i blocked everything out,”

Frisk nodded curtly “ _that’s probably for the best_ … anyway, I have decided to decline his deal, I’m going back home and I was really hoping if… you would like to come back with me? I’ll take good care of you and can create as much music as you want, but most of all, it’ll mean you can finally get away from that big ol’ donkey once and for all,”

Frisk had been sure they would have said yes… but a terrible sinking feeling began to grow in their chest as T-Drop’s eyes welled up with more tears than before, watching as the little ghost’s lower lip trembled as they struggled with their answer.

“ _that sounds really great…. and_.….. _I really want to…. but i…can’t…….._ ,” they uttered out weakly.

“ _Why not?_ ” Frisk asked, beginning to feel as if they were going to cry too, the very idea of leaving them with the God was something they couldn’t bare.

But what came out of their new friend’s mouth made them want to sob.

“... _this is my home…this is all i’ve ever known… and my family…… i don’t even remember them…but i know my family is going to come back someday… ….everyone will…. i can f e e l it, frisk…,”_

“Did…did he tell you that?” they uttered out.

“no…i just _know… and…and i want to be there when they do come back……..whenever it might be, and i know the god of hyperdeath is mean, but……. . sometimes i feel like he’s the way he is because he’s tired of waiting for his family too…,”_

At that, Frisk’s heart dropped, and they began to rub at their wet eyes and let out a defeated cry, folding their knees up and hiding their face into them, curling into themselves and finally, they couldn’t hold back any longer and started to quietly sob, _of course_ things had to go this way… _of course it did…_

T-Drop was of course alarmed, floating up and off from the ground in concern _“.….oh….i didn’t mean to make you cry…i’m sorry frisk……i had no idea freeing me was important to you,”_

_“It is…I don’t want to leave you here to suffer any more than you already have,”_ they sniffled “ _and…it’s funny…for years… after the God of Hyperdeath did what he did to those people…I’ve been having dreams of the way to get inside this mountain without ever coming here…_ I…I always took it at as a sign of destiny to stop him, but I’m starting to get the feeling it was just his twisted use of his powers to get me to come here so he could trap me,”

“.… _but then you met me… now… you don’t want to leave without helping….oh..oh no… this is all my fault_ ,” T-Drop said, their eyes wide with guilt.

Frisk gasped, looking over at T-Drop with alarm “no, it is not! It’s _beautiful_ that you’ve held onto your beliefs this strongly, you’ve been so hopeful for so long, I could never take you away from that,”

And as they said that, a return of light flickered inside of Frisk, a light they hadn’t even realized went out, but they felt it now and it rejuvenated their spirits, a slow grin appearing on their wet face.

“And you know what? If you _truly believe_ everyone will come back, I want to be here when it happens, I’ll wait with you!” they exclaimed.

“but…. what about the god?” T-Drop asked in concern.

“Oh, don’t you worry about him anymore, I have this strange feeling that after I talk to him again that he won’t be too much trouble, at least for you anyway, you may be surprised by the results,”

T-Drop narrowed their eyes at Frisk in concern “…but what about… you..?”

Frisk let out a wary sigh “I seriously don’t know, I don’t really know what to expect from this guy, but part of the deal we made was that he isn’t allowed to hurt anyone ever again, if he does, the deal will be broken, so… I’m not too scared of him anymore… _I guess?_ I’m just still really mad at all the things he’s done,”

“ _...he confuses me…he always rants about how he hates humans……but every now and then…. he’d talk about how you’d be more entertaining to talk to than me…. or … trying to cook a meal he said that he saw you eat_ ,” T-Drop admitted.

Vacantly amused by the image of the giant terrifying immortal creature standing over a stove in a dainty kitchen, wearing a colorful floral apron, test tasting his soup out of a ladle appeared in Frisk’ mind, but they quickly brushed it away, at the moment they refused to think of him in a softer light.  
  
“...Yeah…it really sounds like he’s treated my life like a reality TV show, but the way he explained it… I was concerned for a second that he had a crush on me or… _uh_ , heh, _something of that nature_ …but no, he’s made it very clear that _that’s_ not the case, all I can hope that it’s not an obsession,”

“ _...he obviously wants to be your friend…,”_

Frisk let out a weak chuckle “he actually told me he didn’t, that he only wanted my ‘presence’, it was kind of weird,”

T-Drop made an unsure expression at that “…yeah…..it is…but...i wonder if he said that because he didn’t want to seem…… _desperate…?”_

Frisk shrugged their shoulders “who knows, I try my best to read people but I can’t be looking for 'subtle hints’ all the time, I need real genuine honesty or I’ll never know how someone truly feels,”

There was a few moments of silence between the two before there was a sudden strange soft growling sound, which startled the ghost, making them twitch and look around quickly.

“ _what was that..?!_ ”

Frisk could only laugh gently “it was my tummy, I’m hungry, which makes sense now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve done a lot of walking today and had one too many surprises, but it’s cool, I’ve brought food,” the said, taking off the backpack and pull it around, zipping it open to search for one of their meals.

“i thought you said you need to hurry?” T-Drop asked in concern.

Frisk let out a tired sigh as they unzipped the plastic bag that contained a grilled chicken sandwich.  
“Yeah, yeah… _I do…_ but if I’m going to talk with this guy again, I’ll probably be better off safe than starving, besides, I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to eat again,”

As Frisk began to chow down, T-Drop continued to sit next to them, staying politely quiet.

After a few minutes of eating and gulping down a bottle of green tea, Frisk began to put everything away back into their backpack, but instead of getting up immediately, they stretched their arms out and took a moment of mental preparation. 

That was until T-Drop finally broke the silence.

“...what was the other part of the deal…?”

At that, Frisk winced and pursed their lips, they didn’t have it in them to tell the ghost that they were going to trade their soul for their freedom.

Instead, they rubbed at their tired eyes and stood up with a soft groan, it suddenly seemed a good time as any to get this over with, deciding that they’ve had enough mental preparation, and with that, lifted up their backpack up and pulling it back on

“.…… _Frisk…?”_ T-Drop pressed on “ _…what are you going to do…?_ ”

They only grinned brightly at him.

“Just be patient buddy, you’ll find out soon enough, everything is going to be fine, I just know it,” and then without waiting for a reply, turned away, making their way back toward the waterfall.

“.…. _be safe…_ ,” the ghost rasped out, trying their hardest to blink back the tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a fun fact, I started writing this fic around January 2018 (it's not finished yet, oops) and as much as I've come to fall in love with this story, I still have some issues with it, so, don't be surprised if I go back and do some editing.
> 
> Also, I hope you enjoy Mr. Hyperdeath new black 'grim reaper' inspired outfit, I imagined that after a few years he would get bored of his other outfit and that his style would change.  
> He also looks slightly different on purpose too! I made his appearance a combination of his regular form and his final form, he's had plenty of time to change it around.
> 
> I also hope you don't hate his personality too much, I agree that he's awful, I still can't help but love him anyway.


	4. Setting The Stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The God of Hyperdeath and Frisk carefully go over the rules of their new future together and take a scenic route to the throne room.

**Inspiration Song:** The Other Side by Bruno Mars

_Truth of the matter is I'm complicated_   
_You're as straight as they come_   
_You go 'bout your day baby_   
_While I hide from the sun_

_It's better if you don't understand_   
_'Cause you won't know what it's like_   
_Until you try_

_You know I, I'll be waiting on the other side_   
_And you, all you gotta do is cross the line_   
_I could wait a whole life time_   
_But you just gotta decide_

  
_You know I, I'll be waiting on the other,_   
_Waiting on the other side_

_We would live forever_   
_Who could ask for more_   
_You could die if you wanted_   
_But baby what for_

_It's better if you don't understand_   
_And you won't know what it's like_   
_Until you try_

_You know I, I'll be waiting on the other side_   
_And you, all you gotta do is cross the line_   
_I could wait a whole life time_   
_But you just gotta decide_   
_You know I, I'll be waiting on the other,_   
_Waiting on the other side_

_If they say life's a dream_   
_Call this insomnia_   
_'Cause this ain't Wonderland_   
_It damn sure ain't Narnia_   
_And once you cross the line_   
_You can't change your mind_   
_Yeah I'm a monster_   
_But I'm no Frankenstein_   
_And quite frankly_   
_I've been feeling insane in between my eyes_   
_I really can't explain what I feel inside_   
_If you knew what I was you'd run and hide_   
_Many have tried to go into the night_   
_Cross over the line and come back alive_   
_But that's the price we pay when we living on the other side_

As Frisk walked past the waterfall and into the tall grass, repeatedly eyeing the caverns on the second ground floor above their head, they found themselves holding their breath in nervous anticipation, their hands beginning to sweat, they were trying their damn hardest to think positive, but it wasn’t as easy this time around…

“ _It’s okay…it’s okay…you said it yourself Frisk, everything is going to be fine…_ ,” they chanted to themselves under their breath “ _giving your soul up to a twenty-something-year-old God will tooootaaally have no painful long term drawbacks… you got this aaalllllll under control baby_ ,”

‘ _Oh no, what if he’s listening to me? What if he heard the whole conversation with T-Drop? WHAT IF HE HEARD ME CALL HIM A DONKEY?!’_ they thought loudly to themselves, gritting their teeth in horror.

They were so deep in their worries, walking with their vacant gaze drawn to the ground, but were caught off guard when their boot suddenly landed on a large pretty flower lily floating over a dark pool of water- all their thoughts and movements halting in surprise.

Now free from their anxious musings- they were now able to pay full attention to their surroundings again, seeing that there were a few more flower lilies, all in a line over the water, looking exactly like a bridge, a very adorable pink flower bridge.

Still, they pressed their foot down, testing the fragility just in case, in awe when it didn’t sink down, instead, it held up firmly and was slightly bouncy, so, they crossed it, walking until they entered a new room.

They were met with the sight of two streams of water that went in opposite directions, four glowing mushrooms, and… their mouth going dry when they spotted a golden bell on the wall.

_‘I’ll be waiting further down the hall, next door to the room with the bell, it will be obvious’_

_‘ just follow the flowers’_

Their gaze dropped to the end of the room ahead, and low and behold, saw that there was another lily bridge over the nearby stream that connected to a real bridge that seemed to run off to another area that wasn’t visible from their angle.

Okay… this was it…

Taking advantage of their last moments with their soul still in their body and their freedom still intact, they closed their eyes..

….took a long deep breath

_..Focused on all of the good things that could come out of this…_

And slowly exhaled it through their nose..

And opened their eyes “ _well, here I go_ ,” they said to themselves and walked on, carefully stepping onto the next flower bridge and onto the new wooden one which took them to a hidden room where they found the God of Hyperdeath, sitting patiently on a quaint white park bench.

He was staring hard at the ground, but as soon as they walked in, a satisfied smile curled on his muzzle, without looking at them, he spoke.

“That took quite a long time, I was beginning to think you ran off,”

Frisk crossed their arms “I almost did, but I refuse to leave T-Drop behind, despite your poor treatment, they don’t want to leave this place, I think they’re braver than you realize,”

He finally eyed them “or more foolish than I realize, I don’t think they’ve figured out yet that I stopped caring about having them around years ago,”

Frisk squinted at him in great disapproval, unsure if they should grace the comment with a response, they decided against saying anything when he crossed his long legs underneath his black robe and floated up into the air, moving away from the bench.

“Sit, let’s properly go over all the rules of the deal, we need to make sure everything is in order and clear between us” he ordered.

“ _This is a pretty nice improvement from grabbing my arm and growling in my face_ ,” Frisk mumbled quietly as they walked to the bench, sitting down, attempting to get as comfortable as they could.

“I tend to react that way around idiots, you’ll have to excuse me,” the God deadpanned.

“I will if you apologize,” Frisk bit back.

“ _Hmph_ , there are many things I need to apologize for, I am not about to start now,” he replied, floating around until he was few feet in front of Frisk, making sure he was at their eye level, then reached into a pocket inside his robe, pulling out a near translucent golden piece of paper which he began looking over.

“Let’s get this over with, hm? Rule one, the God of Hyperdeath cannot kill or harm anymore, or steal any more souls, with the only exception of Frisk’s soul,”

“Oh…that’s weird…,” Frisk blurted out.

He narrowed his eyebrows at them “what is?”

“That’s the first time you’ve said my name out loud, it feels weird to hear you say it,” they said, now feeling awkward as they second-guessed themselves.

At that he became visibly annoyed, snapping his fingers at them a few times “ _focus you nitwit!_ I know it’s hard to with your minuscule attention span, but this isn’t something to take lightly, just tell me that you agree to rule one,”

“.. _.I agree.._ ,” they sighed, annoyance lacing their tone.

“Alright, rule two, ‘T-Drop’ is to have their complete freedom back once the switch is made, the God of Hyperdeath is never allowed to force them to do anything ever again, do you agree?”

“I definitely agree,”

“Rule three, Frisk’s soul is to be kept safe and locked inside a magic shrine inside the throne room at all times, no one is to ever touch it with the exception that the God of Hyperdeath lets them borrow it for a short period of time to leave the mountain, if they do not come back in time, the deal is broken and the God of Hyperdeath gets their soul, do you agree?”

“.. _I agree_.”

“Rule four, if Frisk has not been given permission by the God of Hyperdeath, Frisk is never allowed to leave the inside of the mountain, if they do, the deal is broken and the God of Hyperdeath gets their soul, do you agree?”

“... _Yeah… I agree…_ ,”

“Rule five, Frisk is to do whatever the God of Hyperdeath wants, do you agree?”

“...Wait, what if I end up getting hurt in the process of doing one of your ‘biddings’? Would that violate rule one? Or what if you do something awful like… _hm…uh,_ _tell me to… hurt myself?_ ”

The God raised his eyebrows at that, impressed “sneaky, but, no, if you _accidentally_ get hurt- that is just you hurting yourself, I had no part in that, and neither will I tell you to hurt yourself- because…yes, I think would violate rule one, I won’t make such an easy mistake,”

Frisk’s frown twisted into disgust “… _‘easy’ huh?_ ”

“It’s a joke. So, do you agree?”

“What if I _don’t_ agree to a rule?”

“Then you have to alter it to your liking, but I have to agree to the altercation and so forth,”

“Is that a _magic_ list? Does the deal only happen if we agree to all the rules?”

“Asking the important questions a little late aren’t we? But...yes it’s ‘magic’…and yes, once you have agreed to everything it automatically becomes binding, and you can’t sneak your way out of it or the process, that is- unless _I_ tear it up,”

“But why did you make it when you could just go ahead and swipe my soul?”

“Because I told you, I’m civilized, and you won’t believe how many deaths and disasters happen to powerful entities who jump into things headfirst and don’t make binding contracts, deals or checklists first, the meek are notorious for figuring out how to rise to freedom,”

“Did you just imply that I’m a notorious meekling?”

Finally, the God caught on, sneering at the cheeky little human in front of him “stop distracting me! Do you agree or not?”

“ _Fine_ , yes, I agree, but… this list appeals more to you than me, is it possible for me to add a rule?”

The God scoffed “yes- but this is a deal for ME to have ownership of YOUR soul, why should you get to have a rule?”

Frisk glared at him hard “because I ‘owned’ it _first_ , and you _owe me for invading my private personal space_ ,”

The God was taken aback at that, seemed to be at lost for words for a few seconds until he looked away and down, letting out a sigh.  
“Alright…I suppose you are right about that, _and I can’t expect to receive respect if I don’t give it first…_ ,” he admitted, his voice tight and uncomfortable.

And without another word, he handed Frisk the paper.

“Just write it down with your index finger and erase with your middle,” he explained.

Frisk took a few seconds to admire both the God’s thoughtfulness and his handwriting _(which was a mix of print and cursive)_ this was really nice, unable to stop themselves from peeking at him from the piece of paper.

“Thank you, this means a lot,”

“ _Mmhm._.,”

They knew exactly what to write, taking less than a minute to write their rule down, handing it back to their captor.

“Hm, ‘ _rule six, The God of Hyperdeath is no longer allowed to view or track Frisk in secret, doing so harms Frisk emotionally and breaks rule one which breaks the deal_ ’, I guess I should have seen this coming, since you are here now it’s not much of an issue anymore… but let’s say… if you, for some reason, are far away from me in the underground and I don’t know where you are, that I still have to find you without the use of my powers?”

Frisk looked thoughtful for a moment before they nodded “I didn’t think of that scenario, but yeah, it sounds right, just look for me like any other person,”

At that, the God grinned “sounds like it could be interesting, _perhaps... I could make a game out of it_ ,”

“...Like advanced hide and go seek?” Frisk suggested warily.

He laughed in response, his grin turning dark “ ** **I was thinking more along the lines of cat and mouse**** ,”

Frisk grimaced “ _please_ tell me your joking again before I take that back and edit everything,”

He shook his head, chuckling to himself “I’m joking, I will behave as you wish, so, are you satisfied with what you wrote?”

Frisk let out a sigh “yes…do..uh, do I have to ask if you agree to it?”

“Yes,”

“Do you agree?”

“I agree,”

“I… have another question, and it’s serious, but… how much do you time travel?” Frisk asked, when he had first spoken of the ability, they had been overwhelmed with not a lot of time to process everything, but now the subject had returned to their thoughts and it seemed like the perfect time to act.

He perked up at that “hm, I was worried you would never ask, I _used_ to abuse my time travel powers all the time, but after years of doing all I can think of, I have lost interest, I can only go backwards to certain saved points anyway, I’ve never been able to flash forward,”

“I see..and…ah…have you…um, used your power since I’ve come here? Would I know if you used it?” they asked, trying to hide the return of their nervousness.

“No, you wouldn’t, and… no, I haven’t used my power for months, these days I use it to clean up insignificant mistakes, why do you ask?… _Are you_ ** _ **afraid**_** _that I could do something to you and you would_ ** _ **never know**_** _?_ ”

Letting out a weak, anxious chuckle, Frisk held out their hand for the paper “can I add one more rule?”

The God of course- did not move “why?”

“Because you could cheat the deal by time traveling and you haven’t given me very many reasons to trust you yet,” they explained, hoping he’d let them have this.

He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought “ _well. . ._ ,”

They continued to hold out their hand “ _please?_ I _promise_ I won’t ask to add anything else,”

Again, without a word, he handed them the magical piece of paper.

“Thank you,” they said graciously.

Still silent, he merely directed his gaze to somewhere at the ground between them.

They knew what to write this time as well, still, it took them a little longer to gather their thoughts about to word this one, trying to make sure everything was clear, time travel was always a tricky subject.

But soon enough they handed it back.

He read it out loud “... ‘ _The God of Hyperdeath cannot do harm on purpose and break the deal and then use his time-traveling powers and go back in time to change the event, it is considered cheating and unfair, and in doing so, will break the deal and Frisk will get their soul back_ ’,”

Bothered and worried by his sudden stoic behavior, Frisk fidgeted in their seat “is there a problem with it?”

“No…it’s just that I’m vexed that you caught this loophole at all, it could have proven useful, but, I will allow you to have it,”

“I mean- I have no problems with you time traveling, as long as you don’t do anything bad,”

“ _Just ask me if I agree_ ,” he grumbled.

“Do you agree?”

“I agree,”

Frisk watched as the God stared over the piece of paper for a few moments before nodding firmly to himself.

  
“The deal has been finalized, there’s only one thing left to do to make it binding,” he then rolled the golden magic piece of paper up and stuck it back into his robe, gazing at them in contemplative silence, his expression becoming momentarily gentle.

But too soon he shook whatever thoughts he was thinking away in his head, proceeding to unwound himself from his floating sitting position into a standing one, towering over the human intimidatingly once again.

“Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” they said in a sigh.

He then motioned them to stand “good, then get up, I would like to fly you to the throne room to do this,”

They paused any movement in hesitation “ _fly_ me?”

“Yes, it’s a long walk away and I’d rather not wait on you and your tiny twig legs again, that… and I do not think your body could handle warping…or… _maybe it could_ … I haven’t had anyone living to test it on yet,” he explained, thinking out loud.

_“Ah…okay,”_ they uttered out, unsure of how excited they should be as they got up from the bench.

“Okay, first, give me your backpack,” he requested.

They frowned, raising their hands to grab onto the straps protectively “why?”

“I’m going to give it back, I just want it off because it’ll be less of a hassle to hold to you that way, besides, you’ve had it on for practically four hours, I’m assuming your back is sore by now,” he explained.

Frisk looked a little embarrassed “I was going to put some of my things in the box… thing, but it was jammed or something…did you do that?”

“I may have. But that’s not important anymore, can I have the damned bag already or are you going to keep asking follow up questions?” he snipped.

Frisk said nothing more, slipping off the backpack and handing it out for the God, sighing a quiet sigh of relief at the loss of weight, watching as he took it from them…

… But then was sure they were going insane when he looked to the right of him and raised the backpack at and into something invisible, their mouth dropping in shocked bewilderment when suddenly the backpack completely _vanished_.

When he looked back to Frisk he was caught off by their dumbfounded expression, letting out an absurd laugh.

But Frisk was not having any of that “don’t laugh at me, _what was that?! What did you do with my stuff?!”_

The God still couldn’t help but snicker, “oh, I did nothing terrible, it’s perfectly safe, I promise, I simply put it away in my Universe pocket, I created it by warping and bending a pocket into the fabric of reality, it’s become very handy,”

Frisk was now even more dumbfounded and baffled than before “ _h o w ?_ ”

The God frowned at them with judgment “with my great cosmic powers, that’s how. Honestly, why does me being able to turn back time and ability to float and vanish to other places not shock you, but you cannot comprehend that I can bend reality?”

“...Because… it’s . . . _scary? And…should… be impossible… for everyone?? Even Gods????_ ” Frisk managed to utter out, still having trouble putting their thoughts together.

At that he gave a big sarcastic shrug “well, I can, and I’m capable of much more too, and if I have to be honest, it takes extensive focus to bend and rip into reality…so I don’t really bother with it much, besides, I enjoy my reality the way it is, so you have nothing to fear, just be content that you don’t have to carry your backpack,” 

There was a pause from Frisk as they looked off into space “ oh my goodness…...…it’s backpackseption, _a bag within a bag_ ,”

“Why, yes it is, Frisk! _How smart and clever you are_ ,” The God said in an extreme patronizing tone, even leaning over to give Frisk a congratulatory pat on the head. 

At that, Frisk regained composure, snapping their gaze back to him with an annoyed frown, swatting him away “stop being rude, it’s not every day people see things like that,”

He smirked coolly at them “you should watch more magic shows then, but don’t worry, you’re about to have your mind blown again,”

Frisk then let out an alarmed yelp as the God abruptly bent down, hooked an arm underneath their knees and the other one behind their back and neck, scooping the entire human up in one fluid movement.

Their heart jolted as a white light flashed and they caught a magnificent, unfathomable sight as two enormous bright spectrum of interchanging color wings shot out from The God of Hyperdeath’s back.

It took them a few seconds for them to pull their eyes away from his wings and finally register that he was now flying high into the air, their jaw going slack as he expeditiously navigated the long, winding, dark and glowing caverns of Waterfall with ease.

“ _Wow!!_ ” was all they could chime out, deciding that out of all of his ‘Godly cosmic powers’ and ‘magic tricks’, that this was one of their most favorite, even if they haven’t seen the others yet.

Fortunately, Frisk’s senses slowly began to come back to them and they were able to speak again.

“What _can’t_ you do?” they exclaimed in pure awe.

In response, he let out a hearty laugh, a genuine smile on his mug but it disappeared as fast it appeared as he suddenly inaudibly gasped in surprise when he caught view of a sudden low hanging cavern ceiling wall.  
“At the moment I can’t phase through walls- _hang on_ ,”

Despite the warning, Frisk still couldn’t help but let out a squeak as the God shifted his arms to hold them closer to his chest protectively and pulled a sudden sharp nose dive to avoid crashing.

The close contact didn’t last long as he re-found a more stable flying position and relaxed his arms on them, though…Frisk had a little trouble shaking off the confusing flustered yet dazed spell they were now under, unable to unglue their eyes off from the powerful monster, something about being this physically close while seeing him from this angle was messing with their head in a funny way, becoming hyperaware of his entire left hand that snugly held the underneath both their thighs, the heat in their face returning.

But they caught themselves, shutting their eyes tight at the same returning shame from earlier.

_No, JUST NO._

_‘NO, NO, NO, NOnononononoNONONONOOOO!_ ** _ **NO! BEHAVE!’**_** Frisk yelled at themselves in their thoughts, because this was NOT the time NOR the place to let their sensitive hormones act up, especially when they were in the middle of being flown out to have their soul and freedom removed by the creature doing this to them!

They briefly wished he wasn’t so dangerously gorgeous, because this whole predicament would be thirty times simpler if they didn’t have to focus so hard on not being both frightened and turned on at the same time, _literally God damn it, they wish they had access to a cold shower right now to freeze away their shame._

Taking in a breath and promising themselves they wouldn’t look at his face again until they landed, they opened their eyes again and gasped, any more lascivious thoughts or feelings involving the God of Hyperdeath taking a trip to the backseat as they were greeted again by the mysterious and enchanting view of Waterfall once again, now even much higher than before.

Things were quiet for a little while, until a question popped into Frisk’s head, one they couldn’t hold back on asking.

“So. . .what’s your name?” they asked.

The God hesitated for a few seconds before he answered.  
“I told you already,”

“...‘The Absolute God of Hyperdeath’ is not a name, it’s a _title_ , and you _must_ have a name because earlier you implied you were once a regular monster,” Frisk explained.

“ _Hmph_ , I did, didn’t I?” he grumbled in annoyance, more to himself than Frisk.

“Is it true?”

He let out a long sigh “… _yes_ , I was once- a very long time ago- ‘a regular monster’, but I never want to catch you using that as a reason to treat me as a ‘commoner’,”

“Heh, I think it’ll be hard to when you use words like that, so… uh, were you born into a royal family? I recognize the rune on your robe, I spotted it a few times back in the ruins . . . or _um_ , is it something you wear as a sign of respect to the missing monsters?”

The God of Hyperdeath went dead silent for almost a solid minute, slowing down ever so slightly, as if the comment had taken him off guard, but he seemed to shake it off.

“Mmm, you surely do pay close attention to detail for a vapid moron, but… _yes_ , I… came from royalty,” he admitted.

Frisk bit their bottom lip, a handsome God _AND_ royalty?! If this guy wasn’t so possessive, mean, violent, or assumingly notorious for ‘hyperdeath’ he’d probably be one of the most perfect creatures they had ever met.

“Well, I dunno, the regal-ish way you talk also kinda gave me a clue, that and the fact you’re taking me to a throne room,”

“Yes, well, despite that, I felt that if I was going to be a God, I should at least behave like one, it just seemed like the natural thing to do, thankfully for my background I already had the training,”

“Or behave like you _think_ a God should behave, cuz I have a pret-ty strong feeling you’ve never even _met_ another God or Goddess before,”

He didn’t answer, but Frisk could practically _hear_ him scowl, they decided to shift the subject for the better.

“I know I’m rambling now, but if you don’t mind me asking, what were you? Were you the King or a duke, or prince or…?”

“I was a prince,”

_Ahh, now his spoiled rotten baby boy habits were making much more sense._

Frisk was about to ask another question when the scenery around them began to show signs of dramatically changing, which caught them completely off guard, their eyebrows raising as they noticed the bright red horizon and tall old industrial towers in the far-off distance.

And right in front of them was a very large very rocky opening to another cavernous area.

“On foot, this cave will take you on a _very_ long walk through Hotland and the CORE- which eventually leads to New Home, that’s around where the throne room is located, fortunately, I, of course- as you can clearly see- have wings, which unfortunately for you means that we will get to take the fastest shortcut,” he arrogantly explained, and with one extravagant flap, propelled the both of them upward, proceeding to fly over it all.

Ah… they’d distracted themselves too well, the reminder of what was going to be happening soon causing their anxiety to return, deciding to be quiet for a while and keep their full focus on the world below, trying hard to stave off their worse thoughts.

For awhile, directly under them, there wasn’t much to see except for jagged rock, so instead, they kept their eyes on the red glow further ahead, becoming more and more skeptical of it as they grew closer, that was until they passed the cave and revealed Frisk’s suspicions to be again correct-

The red glow was the glint of miles and miles of _lava_ , with thankfully tall _(and winding)_ pathways, machinery, walls, buildings, and towers to keep safe from.

Frisk was again, astounded and amazed by the vast earthly beauty of the underground.

But- _phew_ , Hotland was true to its name! Even at the distance that they were flying at, Frisk found themselves wanting to take their thick jacket off.

Instead, they decided to persevere through it, not wanting to make any more complaints…

Yet…not long after the temperature had risen, they noticed the God flying even higher in the air and let out a small huff of annoyance, perhaps he was affected by the heat as well? It was an interesting theory considering the fact he was clearly immortal and indestructible, perhaps the intense temperatures that lava consisted of were one of his flaws… it was probably a subject to bring up later.

As they flew, a frightening re-returning thought waved heavily through Frisk’s mind, they couldn’t put it off again, _they just had to know_.

“...I have another question, and I want to know the answer before we reach the throne room,” Frisk began.

“It all depends on what it is,” he responded.

“I’m sorry if this is a sensitive subject, but…wh- what exactly happened _to…um_..to all the other monsters?” they asked.

The God was very quiet, as if he were hesitant to respond…  
“Perhaps I will tell you later on, but not now,”

Frisk swallowed the nervous lump in their throat, their next words especially hard to get out.   
“ _Please!_ You have to tell me, if you… killed them, just let me _know, I-_ I want a full idea of what kind of person I’m living with, I want to be prepared,”

As they spoke, Frisk felt the God’s arms stiffen around them, clearly, they didn’t have to look at his face to know he was becoming upset.

****“**** ** _ **No,**_** ** **I can assure you,**** ** **I did**** ** _ **not**_** ** **kill them… something**** ** _ **else happened to them-**_** ** **I promise I will explain it in better detail later, just not at this moment. Now drop the subject before I**** ** _ **drop you**_** ** **,”**** he growled out.

“ _I’m sorry_ ,” Frisk said quietly.

He let out a soft sigh, his intense mood noticeable subsiding “... _don’t apologize_ , you’re not in the wrong for wanting to know these things, I just do not have the patience right now to take the time to tell you everything,”

****“**** _I understand_ ,” they replied.

A few seconds passed before Frisk couldn’t help but speak up again.

“Would you have really dropped me?”

“Yes, to teach you a lesson, I’d of course would catch you before you hit the lava, I need you after all, remember?” he explained.

Frisk wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not, blowing air from their cheeks anxiously.

Not another word was spoken after that, Frisk was too deep in concentration as they grew closer to the two particular buildings that connected in the middle, but both vastly different than the other.

The first one- which was lit up from the inside, looked spectacular, they could even spot a shiny golden neon sign at the two front doors, but they were too far away to make out the words or anything else.

The second building- as connected to by a bridge, was by far, the largest and tallest creation in Hotland and maybe even the underground, Frisk had seen its great phenomenal mysterious presence looming in the distance, but at this magnitude, it was even more impressive and intimidating. 

It appeared to have been built by twisted and winding metal pipes and cogs of all sizes, and maybe even circuitry giving the electric blue light that escaped from the doorway.

“That’s the CORE, it was created by a former Royal Scientist whose story is a mystery even _I_ am still trying to figure out, it converts geothermal energy into magical electricity, it requires around the clock blocks of ice that need to be sent from Snowdin, or else it will overheat, there _used_ to be a family of ice wolfs to deposit it, but I’ve long ago created a magic portal system to solve that issue,” he explained.

“Will it explode if it overheats?” Frisk asked worriedly.

“No, it has a safety shut off mechanism, and I had the choice to leave it be, but I have decided I like my home to have power, the more power the better,”

After that there was more silence as the God flew around the CORE, coming into a new view of many, many buildings clustered together, but what made Frisk fearful was the nearby sight of what was clearly a palace that was linked to the CORE.

_The God was flying straight toward it._

“You’re scared,” he suddenly stated.

“ _I’m about to lose ownership to my soul, of course I’m scared_ ,” Frisk said, their voice a near whisper.

“And, are you scared of me?” he asked.

“... _Sort of… I don’t know, I know what you promised, and that you’ve been nice enough to me, but, you’ve also been extremely cruel, I… I don’t know what to expect from you_ ,” they said, still speaking quietly.

“I cannot promise I will always behave as you wish, but…will it make you feel better to learn my true name? To not associate me as a cold and merciless God all the time? My sole intention when making this deal was never to hurt you, and I’ve… realized I cannot enjoy your presence if you are going to be afraid of me,” he admitted.

At first, Frisk was at loss for words “ _I… see…that’s good, I guess,”_ they looked down at their lap, they guessed they were glad that he had figured that out, they weren’t sure how learning his name made what was supposed to make them feel any less scared.

They eyed his chest, “ _so_ , what _is_ your name?”

“Asriel Dreemurr,” he announced.

They looked up at him in awe, then away when they caught his gaze, feeling a little shy “ _that’s…a beautiful name… um…_ how do you spell it?”

“A-S-R-I-E-L, D-R-double-E-M-U-double-R,”

Frisk narrowed their brows, thinking over something in their mind.

“So… what do I have to do to make you less scared of me?” they asked firmly as they could muster.

The God scoffed, chuckling, “what are you even talking about? I’m not-”

“ _Yes you are_ , why else would you need my soul to make the deal? You don’t trust me at all, you’re obviously frightened by humans, me included,” they explained, a slight ache in their tone.

The God didn’t respond, and finally flew down to one of the palace’s bridges in between buildings, landing gracefully, putting away his colorful wings and allowing Frisk to get back to their feet- who, instead of checking their surroundings as usual, turned around to face him, they still wanted to finish the conversation.

He frowned deeply, then looked away, “you’re nothing like those humans who attacked me, that is why I chose you, remember? My problem with _you_ , Frisk, is that you do not ever give up, _not ever,_ if I don’t take your soul… you’ll easily slip away,”

Frisk shook their head, becoming increasingly frustrated “I won’t! I _told you_ , I’m not going anywhere without T-Drop, and T-Drop isn’t leaving until their family comes back! But I have no idea if that’ll _even happen!_ ”

At that the God cracked a bitter smile, rubbing at his eyes as if he were exhausted “… _why are you still so naive?_ ” he whispered, going unheard, silent for a moment as he worked out something in his head, but shook it away and gazed down at them.  
“You have a strong point, but even if the others never come back, I _know you_ Frisk, you could still find another way around,” he then scowled at them “I’m already certain you’ve already worked some kind of plan together to free your soul after it’s locked away …I’ll admit, you’re unbreakable positive tenacity is as annoying as it is charming,”

Frisk’s mouth gaped open, their eyebrows raising because he _was right._

They then smiled weakly, sticking their hands modestly in their pockets “alright… I guess you’ve really got me figured out,” they then shifted their weight awkwardly onto their left foot as they attempted to change the subject…

“Your real name, _can I call you that instead?_ ” they asked, their tone polite.

Asriel’s mouth twisted in something between annoyance and deep thought before he finally gave them an answer “sparingly, I’d rather you call me by both names,”

“Now,” he pointed to the other side “begin walking, I will be behind you,” he directed.

So, Frisk did as they were told, walking and walking until they were met with a very familiar view.

“Oh… this looks just like the house back in the ruins…,” they noted.

“That’s correct, the one you saw belonged to my mother and this one belonged to my father,” Asriel said, giving them a quick tap on the back “keep going,”

They waved a hand back at him at the unnecessary touching “okay, okay,” and began walking again, both making their way inside, but was further shocked.

Despite the color palette difference, and a few obvious furniture changes here and there, the inside of the house was built exactly the same as the one back in the ruins.

“‘ _The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint_ ’,” Frisk echoed, remembering a particular sign they had seen, they then turned to look up at Asriel, “what happened? Why didn’t they live together?”

“They didn’t see eye to eye after a traumatic incident and had a divorce, my father persistently stayed and ruled here while my mother stormed off and locked herself away in the ruins, your regular basic royal family drama I guess, it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said and floated passed them to the staircase, motioning to it gracefully “come, you’ll have plenty of time to look around later,”

They entered another, very, very long hallway.

“Was it hard for you?” Frisk asked suddenly after a while of silence, gazing at the view of the empty buildings below as it came into sight, absentmindedly slowing their pace.

“What was?”

“The divorce, I mean- you don’t have to tell me what happened, I’m just wondering how it affected you, I hear divorce can be really tough on kids,” Frisk said.

“I don’t know, I don’t… really think about that part of my life anymore, quit trying to play therapist anyway, I’ve already explained that it won’t get you anywhere with me,” Asriel grumbled.

“ _Alright, then, new topic_. .. uh, do you have a favorite food? T-Drop mentioned something about you having an interest in cooking,” they said.

A subtle scowl appeared on his face “... _did they now?_ ”

Frisk reacted quickly “uh, they didn’t say a lot- just don’t be mad at them for gossiping, they were just trying to talk to someone who was actually listening to them for a change,”

“Fair enough, but.. yes, I have some interest in cooking, I don’t need to eat, but I sometimes enjoy the process of making a meal, I also still have taste buds so getting to use them is a plus as well,” he explained.

“Soooo, favorite food?” Frisk repeated.

“Ah… yes, uh, well, I’m partial to escargot, and any type of dessert, but cinnamon butterscotch pie has always been a favorite too,” he said, sounding as if he was rather liking this conversation.

“And unfavorite food?”

“Eh, hm… asparagus, anything from goats, maybe hominy, other than that, there aren’t many foods I dislike,”

Frisk took a pause in their thoughts “wait… wait a hot second, how do you _get_ the food?”

“Oh yes, well, for a while I stockpiled on the hidden gardens that the underground has, but I had no interest in figuring out how to keep all that produce alive and going on my own, so I have been summoning food from the surface since then,” he explained.

Frisk stopped in their footsteps, looked up at Asriel with judgment “are you trying to say you’ve been _stealing?_ ”

But of course, he was unaffected, giving them an uncaring shrug “I only steal from the unworthy humans and only when I need to cook, besides it’s not like I let anything go to waste,”

“...Have you ever stolen things from _me…?_ ” they asked, unsure if they wanted an answer.

“You’re not unworthy- but yes, to taste of a few things you’ve cooked, but never anything other than that, I have no interest in taking your personal belongings,” he said.

“Oh…so… do you like my cooking…?” they pressed on, mildly hopeful.

“Actually, yes, except I think you use too much unnecessary spices, but- whatever, let's stop with the idle chatter and focus on the task at hand,” he said, then placed a hand on their shoulder and turned them back around.

Exhaling through their nose at being physically touched and moved again by this creature, not entirely sure how much they enjoyed it at the moment, they wondered if this was going to be a regular thing with him, deciding to voice their concerns about this for later.

Instead, they began walking again.

“I was just trying to lighten the mood, and maybe try to figure out some ideas for any future meals if… y’know, eating was a thing with you or not,” Frisk said, stuffing their hands in their pockets.

He didn’t voice a response to this, instead he floated up ahead of them to the end of the hall to the right, next to a large doorway, waiting patiently as they took no time to hurry, following behind again as they went in.

He almost bumped into them when they again stopped in their tracks as they got a clear view of the wide ornate brightly lit golden hallway.

“What is it _now?_ ” Asriel complained, floating around them to inspect the issue.

They continued to stare around the hallway, silent and caught up in their thoughts, “this is one of the places from here that I’ve dreamed about, it’s funny, some of the places here give me a strange… sort… of nostalgic vibe almost, even though I’ve never been here,” they explained.

They then looked up to him expectantly “you planted these places in my mind, didn’t you?”

Asriel smirked, holding back a chuckle “you catch on fast, don’t you? But yes, I had to inspire you to come here somehow after all, the nostalgia is likely a side effect of receiving another person’s memories,”

Frisk nodded, it sounded about right, letting out a sigh of wonder as they continued on “it’s gorgeous in here, was it a ballroom?”

Asriel shrugged “I guess it could have been, but for a long time it had one main purpose, it was the place where a monster would pass judgment over visitors before they spoke to the King,”

“So, that means we’re close to the throne room…,” Frisk said, tightening their hands inside their jacket.

“It does,”

Not another word was spoken, and soon they left the hallway, entering a much smaller one where Asriel hovered over to the main door, stopped, and turned to them.

“This is it, is there anything else you want to ask or say before we go in?” he asked.

Frisk bit their bottom lip as their thoughts ran over all the options, their eyes flickering back and forth between the floor and the God’s gaze.

“...Do I have to pray to you?” they asked, a nervous smile on their face.

But Asriel was genuinely skeptical of the question “you _can…?_ But I’m… uh, not that type of ‘God’, so unless I’m within earshot, I don’t think I will hear you,”

There was an awkward pause between them.

“That was an attempt at a joke, wasn’t it?” he finally asked.

Frisk let out a soft chuckle “yeah, it was, but I’m glad you took me seriously anyway, it was nice,” running a hand through their bangs they looked down to their boots.  
“But, I guess I do have a real question…,” they dared to eye him “… _will it hurt?_ ”

Asriel grimaced at that, for almost a second Frisk was sure they saw a glint of guilt in his eyes, but it passed too quickly, “I will make sure it doesn’t, I believe it may affect the deal somehow if I let it,”

Frisk nodded, taking in his words “okay… and.. you’re _sure_ I’ll be the same after..?”

He floated to them, reaching out to gently hold the side of their left arm comfortingly.  
“Yes, I wouldn’t be doing this if it altered you somehow, because as I explained, your soul will still be perfectly connected to you, just not… within you, do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand…,” they said, focusing their gaze now at the long hand that was currently enveloping their entire upper arm, and then, something dawned on them, turning their attention back to Asriel with suspicion.

“ _You.. DO want me as your friend… don’t you?_ ” they asked, their voice gentle.

At the suggestion, he instantly released their arm as if he suddenly realized he was doing it, his frown twisting uncomfortably, he stared back down with a mixed expression of sadness and disgust.

“ ** _ **Do you really honestly believe that a person who would do what I’m about to do would be interested or capable of making ‘friends’?**_** ” he criticized, his voice low and judgmental- but at who, Frisk was unsure.

Frisk could only gaze at him with deep thought for a few seconds before they smiled gently and let out a sigh.  
“ _It’s hard to tell,_ you’ve been giving me mixed signals since we met, but… I can tell you’re really trying to do something, even if you keep denying it,”

He folded his arms and stared back at them cautiously “ _hmph… okay_ , since you seem to think you have me figured out, what are you trying to play at? Are you **_**really**_** trying to say you’d actually be ****friends**** with ** _ **… me? After everything I did? Or even after what I’m about to do?**_** ** **”****

Their smile grew sad, but gave a playful little shrug.

“Well _._ . . _yeah. . . maybe if things go right,_ I know, it sounds kind of bad, doesn’t it? But I’ve decided that I’m going to show you compassion and make the best out of this situation, even if it means I decide to make friends with my ‘captor’, and.. _I don’t know_ … I’m starting to realize that maybe you’re not as horrible as I originally thought,”

At that he glared daggers and arched down to their height, much like he had done when they first met earlier and leaned in dangerously, this time though, he clasped a hand on the side of their face, a clawed thumb pressing roughly…but painlessly against their cheek and languidly pulled them in close until they were inches from his face.

It was easy to say that Frisk was caught off guard by this, their breath catching in their throat, unable to look away as his intense scarlet red eyes locked onto their bright hazel ones.

… _Yet_ …this time, they couldn’t exactly say they were entirely… _scared_.

****“**** ** _ **You’re trusting me much too early, Frisk, you shouldn’t make decisions that you know you might regret later**_** ** **,”**** he growled.

At that, something occurred to Frisk and they _dared to smile_ at him, their expression brave, trying their hardest to keep their head clear and ignore the hard drumming of their heartbeat or how their body was heating up again.

“I agree, I’ve definitely made many difficult and terrifying choices today, ones that I wasn’t sure about at first- but in the end, I’ve made my choices knowing in my heart that they were the right ones, and I believe this one won’t be any different,”

Asriel was taken aback, his mouth gaping slightly in surprise, seemingly lost in his thoughts as he stared at them, it was clear he had no idea what to say anymore.

Frisk, however, was finally and completely coming to terms with the deal, they knew what to do, raising a hand up to tenderly clasp their hand over the much larger hand that still held the side of their face- watching in fascination as Asriel’s diamond pupils dilated in response and catching the glint of desperation in his expression.

Relief flowed through them as they finally realized they had more control than they previously thought.

“It’s _okay Asriel_ , do what you feel you need to if you think it’s the right thing to do, I’ve decided I’m done being scared of you, and if we don’t become friends, that’s okay too, I have T-Drop, but… I have a feeling deep inside that it might be nice to be friends with you, no matter what you say,” they said, then took hold of his hand and gently pulled it from their face, slowly pulling it down between them and flipping it over to properly hold it.

Well, to properly hold as their size difference would allow anyway.

“I’m ready to give you my soul, I have strong hopes I’ll get it back someday,” they confessed.

“... _I cannot tell if you are an idiot, brave, or simply insane_ ,” Asriel murmured, staring down at their joined hands, completely awestruck.

Frisk laughed quietly at that, “I don’t know, I’m just following my heart, it always seems to get me into some pretty interesting and exciting situations,”

“ _I’ve noticed_ ,” Asriel whispered, his gaze still pierced to their hands, but he shut his eyes and let out a great sigh, taking his hand back in the process and standing straight again.

“We will continue this conversation later, now, if you say you are ready, then let’s get this over with shall we?” he said and motioned to the larger doorway ahead.

Frisk merely gave him an understanding smile and walked toward their fate.


	5. The Binding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally reach the throne room, Frisk has their heart stolen away...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'd like to say thank you for the comments, I was finicky about this story for a long time, it gives me relief to see some people like it.
> 
> I'd also like to say that posting this fic at the time I did was really impulsive move for me, seeing as I have another much bigger fic that I'm working on, so, I'd like to sincerely apologize if this goes into a deep hiatus around after chapter 7ish. 
> 
> ALSO, you may see the word 'smut' in the tags a few times, I promise it'll come... just...much later, that's where the 'slow burn' comes into play, it's like a slow cooking soup, it's going to need time to simmer, just stay hungry.

**Inspiration Song:** Rabbit Heart by Florence And The Machine

_The looking glass, so shiny and new_   
_How quickly the glamour fades_   
_I start spinning, slipping out of time_   
_Was that the wrong pill to take? (Raise it up)_

_You made a deal, and now it seems you have to offer up_   
_But will it ever be enough? (Raise it up, raise it up)_   
_It's not enough (Raise it up, raise it up)_

_Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl_   
_Frozen in the headlights_   
_It seems I've made the final sacrifice_

_We raise it up, this offering_   
_We raise it up_

_This is a gift, it comes with a price_   
_Who is the lamb and who is the knife?_   
_Midas is king and he holds me so tight_   
_And turns me to gold in the sunlight_

_I look around, but I can't find you (raise it up)_   
_If only I could see your face (raise it up)_   
_Instead of rushing towards the skyline (raise it up)_   
_I wish that I could just be brave_

_I must become a lion hearted girl_   
_Ready for a fight_   
_Before I make the final sacrifice_

_We raise it up, this offering  
_ _We raise it up_

They were met with the sight of a grand golden room filled with greenery, with vines running up the walls and a widespread patch of familiar golden flowers decorating the middle, all of it covering up checkered flooring underneath.

Among the space where there weren’t flowers, sat a solitary God-sized throne that seemed to clash with the rest of the décor, it was cushioned by a scarlet red fabric and appeared to be made out of an unusual odd black metal, the top of it shaped into several peculiar symmetrical pointed shapes- it took Frisk a second to recognize that peculiar shape was to match Asriel’s slicked back horns.

_It was clear he had created it himself._

Frisk was unsure to do as Asriel floated past them, his eyes calculating as stared at the area where the throne sat.

“ _Yes…I think I want to put it here…_ ,” he mumbled to himself, frowning as he circled the throne, “this will just have to be moved,”

Frisk then backed up against the nearest wall as Asriel slowly raised a hand, his fingers curling as if he were holding something, then watched, stunned, as the throne began to levitate at the same moment. 

He then motioned his arm out to the large window at the end of the room-

And _whoosh!_

The throne flew across the room, not stopping until it was placed in front of the middle of the window.

Relaxing his hand back down and turning his attention to the empty space where the throne had stood, Asriel smirked, and eyed Frisk.

“This is where your shrine will stand, mind you, it will look nothing like you could ever imagine, so try not to be alarmed by the end result, I’m not interested in hearing your artistic criticism, now- keep watching,” he said and crouched down to the checkered flooring, then raised both hands and dramatically waved them at the spot.

At the action, there was a loud **_**crack-**_** and suddenly several of the square stones were raised into the air, they circled around randomly as if they no longer obeyed the laws of gravity, dancing freely before Asriel waved them off back to the ground nearby, turning his attention back to the new plot of uncovered rocky ground.

He shifted his position, leaning over and placing his hands carefully onto the ground, meticulous of the placement, he then took a big breath, inhaling and then _very gradually_ and _very slowly_ began to raise his hands.

And as he raised them, so did the ground, as if it were chasing after him.

But what caught Frisk off guard wasn’t that he was moving the earth or _(physically?)_ moving things in general, it was the bizarre formation the ground was taking shape of.

From afar it would have appeared that the God of Hyperdeath was summoning out hundreds to thousands of… _hands_ from beneath the earth, clustered together, bending and binding with their palms raised out as if they were all waiting to hold something.

But as Frisk looked more carefully, they saw hands of different shapes and sizes and origin, some humanoid, some paws, some blobby, some claws, some hoofs, some without skin and just skeleton.

None of the hands could actually be called ‘human’, they were all monstrous in nature.

Asriel continued to concentrate, coming back into a standing position as he continued to raise both his arms and his new creation, completely absorbed in his project.

Soon, as the shrine grew taller, the arms connecting to the thousands of hands began to appear, blending together until it looked less like an eldritch horror creation and more like an artistic spiraling column, and once it reached six feet, Asriel exhaled and waved his arms away, finished.

Frisk was so fascinated by his work that they didn’t notice when the God directed his attention to them, jumping in surprise when he spoke.

“I see you staring quite hard, but what are you _thinking?_ ” he asked.

“The hands… do they- do they all belong to your people?” they asked.

He nodded “it was important to me that they took part in this deal someway or another,”

Frisk, however, wasn’t sure how their ownership was relevant to the God’s lost people, but, if it was important then they wouldn’t judge too hard. They also thought of asking other questions, like, ‘why did he move his throne when there was plenty of room to put the shrine instead’ or ‘can they take a closer look at the shrine’s details’, but… it just didn’t seem the right time, neither did they have the courage to do so as Asriel drifted over to them, automatically stepping back as he approached them.

“You said you weren’t going to be scared of me anymore,” he reminded them.

Frisk smiled weakly “ _it’s not you I’m scared of right now_ ,”

He smiled back “perfectly understandable, but don’t worry, I’ll make this quick,”

Asriel then floated a little closer, and suddenly, something remarkable happened.

In front of Frisk, a box appeared, and inside the box was a red heart, then below that was four other boxes that read-

**‘FIGHT’ ‘ACT’ ‘ITEM’ ‘MERCY’**

Between that, they could see their name, that they were at an ‘LV 1’, and had an HP meter that was at 20/20 percent.

“This is an encounter, all monsters have the ability to summon anyone into one… so, this is probably the first and last one you’ll be in,” he then grinned “and see that heart? That is your soul, the very culmination of your being,”

Frisk gaped, at first at the sight, but then they realized they physically couldn’t speak or physically move- except for their hands, they could move their arms and hands- as astounding as all of this was, they felt no reason to panic over being paralyzed.

They eyed ACT curiously and pressed it with a finger, and in doing so, found their words, the process of it all surprisingly natural the more they did, noticing that their soul seemed to move with them- just out of their body and within it’s contained box.

“ _That’s_ my soul?!” they blurted out.

Asriel let out a bit of laughter “yes, did you expect something more?”

They pressed ACT again “w- well, yeah! I always imagined a soul to be more… florescent and round,”

He merely shrugged “again, you assume too much, but I digress, you seem to be taking to the encounter well, I will admit it is a bit restrictive and requires a bit of patience due to taking turns, but one learns to enjoy it,”

At that comment, as Frisk pressed ACT, they took particular notice of the ‘check’ option and went for it, a description popping up-

_‘A mysterious legendary being, Prince of an empty kingdom’_

“Nothing you don’t already know,” Asriel said, fully aware of what Frisk was up to.

Frisk gave him a sheepish smile “you did say this could be the last and first time I could get to do this, I was just trying to see all I could,”

He nodded “perhaps we can arrange something later then, but right now… I want you to stay very calm… and _don’t move_ ,”

Frisk’s eyebrows raised high, holding their breath as Asriel held his arms out, and in his hands, appeared two matching intricate long blades-

And with an intense and powerful ** _ **-S W O O S H-**_** ** _ **  
**_**

_The top of the board holding Frisk’s soul had been sliced clean off._ _  
_

_“_ ** _ **This is it, are you ready Frisk?**_** _”_ The God asked, his voice low and steady, as if he were concentrating hard on something difficult, summoning the blades away.

They released the breath they’d been holding, licking their dry mouth and nodded “yes,”

“ ** _ **Then continue to keep still**_** ,” he reminded them, then, with a quick movement, his right hand detached from his wrist with ease as if hadn’t been attached in the first place.

Frisk watched with several mixed emotions as the disembodied hand floated to the half board, frozen as it reached in and with a fluid movement- _captured the entire soul into his fist._

They felt no pain or changes as the fist began to delicately pull back from the borders of the box, and as he did this, revealed an empty heart outline, the brilliant shade of red that was once there before was now completely missing.

With the main half of their soul still in his fist, he reattached his hand back to his wrist, and waved his left hand, levitating the broken parts of the board back in place, taking care to make sure it was put back correctly.

“ ** _ **It’s been done, all I need to do is put your soul on the shrine, but first, humor me for a second, can you move the whisper soul? I did it correctly, I just want to put any ill suspicions to rest,”**_** he said.

Without a word, Frisk stepped around, and to their relief, the heart shape followed suit in time, as if nothing had happened.

“ ** _ **That’s good, now I want you to think of things that make you sad, or people you care about, I need to see if you can still feel compassion**_** ,” he suggested.

Frisk nodded, and began to think about their aunt, who had taken them in after a car accident that had taken their parents away, and their cousin who always been like a big brother…

And in the process, finally realized… that without being able to use their phone, that they weren’t going to be able to see or talk to their family for a long time, a terrible feeling of anguish taking hold over them and weighing down on their chest, their bottom lip trembling as they thought of their aunt crying or their older cousin yelling at the police for being unable to find them.

They were on the verge of crying when Asriel let out a quiet satisfied chuckle, pointing to the soul in his fist.

“ _What is it?_ ” Frisk whimpered out.

“ ** _ **I can feel your soul, I can feel your grief and worry, it means your soul is definitely still attached to you and everything has worked perfectly,**_** ” he announced, his smile fading in the literal empathy he was feeling.

Then, without a further word, the encounter was over.

With his free hand, Asriel rested a hand against Frisk’s back, giving them a comforting gentle pat, then ushered them over to the shrine.

They watched in silence, tears falling down their cheeks as he rested his fist against at the top and very middle of the shrine among the thousands of monster palms that waited, then relaxed and opened his hand, revealing the red soul.

Then, with both hands, raised them and made a motion-

And as he did that, on the top of the shrine- a large but delicate pair of humanoid hands raised- then on the opposite side, another much larger and more masculine pair of humanoid hands raised as well, the returning sound of sliding rocks and gravel filling the air as the hands rigidly moved.

The fingers on each hand all splayed out, the four pairs of hands simultaneously raising up and around and above the soul, creating a makeshift cage for it.

“ ** _ **The deal has been sealed**_** ,” the God announced, he then turned to Frisk and grinned a sharp-toothed grin down at them.

**_**“You’re mine Frisk**_** ,”

‘ _But not forever, just…keep brave_ ,’ Frisk reminded themselves in their thoughts, letting out a slow sigh and looking away from him and his smug face, staring at their trapped soul instead, wiping the tears from their eyes and face.

Now that they had thought of their family, it was all they could think about, finally realizing how easily they’d been swept away by the God and his influence and just how both selfish and selfless their choice to the agreement had been. . . but, it was over and they had to deal with the consequences.

“S _o, what do we do now?_ ” Frisk asked wearily, still staring up at their soul.

“Hm, very good question, but don’t worry, I have been thinking everything over on the way here, and I am sure you will enjoy what I have planned, but to commence with that plan, I am going to need you to stay put here,” he commanded, and as he began to turn away, Frisk spoke up.

“What if I don’t stay put?” they asked, almost daringly.

He stopped moving but didn’t bother looking back.  
“Then you will be **_**punished**_** , because it is an order and you have to **_**obey me now**_** ,”

Frisk crossed their arms, biting their bottom lip nervously- despite everything that had just gone down, they still couldn’t help but test the waters, they wanted to see how far they could go before the shark came.  
“How will I be punished then? I know you can’t harm me, so what will you do _Mr. Hyperdeath?_ ” they bit back cheekily.

“ _Heh_ , well, you will just have to _find out_ , ** _ **won’t you?**_** ” he said, his husky voice suggesting something dark, but fortunately Frisk could only remember the rules of the deal, so instead of fear, it was a thrill that ran through Frisk’s body as they couldn’t help it as their imagination ran wild at the implications, because if he couldn’t _hurt_ them… then…what _else could he do?_

He then chuckled and smirked at them smugly, distracting them from their musings and revealing that he wasn’t in the least bit angry-which made sense considering he’d just gotten exactly wanted and maybe more, the change in his demeanor effectively shaking off the intense mood in the room, he continued on his way to the door.

“But seriously, I meant it when I said you’d enjoy this, so much so that I’m sure the _both of us_ will be disappointed if you spoil the surprise, so please, stay put,”

Before he left, he turned to them and gave them a firm nod.  
“Now, this will probably take an hour, more or less, so just sit, don’t touch the shrine, and be patient,”

And with that, he was gone, leaving Frisk alone and back to their own devices.


	6. Getting Comfortable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asriel shows Frisk a great surprise, but it all takes a turn and things get intense...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! While this is one of my favorite chapters, there's some things that are said that might make some people uncomfortable, so heads and...I'm sorry.

**Inspiration Song:** Monster by Dodie

_Tell me again about how it hurts_   
_Being awfully loud for an introvert_   
_Get out of my room_   
_Smile wiped clean_   
_Isn't it weird to be so mean?_   
  
_I'm guessing that I've grown horns_   
_I guess I'm human no more_   
_I can tell I've rotted in your brain_   
_Oh, how easily passion twists_   
_You think I'm a crazy bitch_   
_I craft my words to fit your head_   
_'Cause no one listens to the dead_   
  
_So maybe I will talk to you_   
_The only way I know how to_   
_Mmm, mmm, I've said my speech_   
_Mmm, mmm, through sharpened teeth_   
_You break the rules and spikes grow from your skin_   
_Please let the devil in_   
  
_A meter apart_   
_You blankly stare_   
_We shout in our heads_   
_Are you still in there?_   
_Well this ends bad, then_   
_We knew it would_   
_So we won't eat our words_   
_'Cause they don't taste good_   
  
_I think it might be worth a try_   
_Oh_   
_Am I ready to let this die?_   
_Mmm, mmm, a monster's here_   
_Mmm, mmm, you plug your ears_   
_But hey, you might just listen to it sing_   
_Please let the devil in_   
  
_Look, I know that I've seen this before_   
_High and mighty, at the top of your list_   
_Adoring every move, now my rank is sinking_   
_But we're both guilty of black or white thinking_   
_And through my red eyes, you look pale_   
_All of your scars are looking more like scales_   
_Two ugly creatures, two sinister preachers_   
_Blind to the past, like a couple of monsters;_   
_Just a couple of monsters!_   
  
_Oh_   
_I think it might be worth a try_   
_Oh_   
_Am I ready to let this die?_   
_Mmm, mmm, a monster's here_   
_Mmm, mmm, you plug your ears_   
_But hey, you might just listen to it sing_   
_Please let the devil in_

They rubbed at the back of their neck, unsure of what to do with themselves now, their mind heavy with so many thoughts, too distracted at the moment by the conversation they just had.

It had only been an attempt at being brave and standing up for themselves after giving away their soul, but in response, he did that low voice, snarling, threatening thing- a tactic that had been mostly successful in scaring Frisk into behaving the first time… that was, until it accidentally ended up… turning them _on._ _  
_  
So now they were trying their best not to think of their shameful attraction to him, which was probably going to be pretty difficult when he was so… ‘hands on’ and threw words around like ‘ _you’re mine_ ’ and ‘ _punishment’_ with that deep husky voice and continued to gaze at them with those intense piercing eyes, always looking them over as if he were holding himself back from consuming them- _and- and-_

Frisk squeezed their eyes shut and shook their head, as if the God had shrunk himself and made himself home inside their mind and they were trying to rattle him out…

Except for every time they did, he kept sneaking his way back in!

Didn’t they have much more important things to worry and be more concerned about? It was just _wrong_ that this creature was taking over their attention like this, their shame returning along with cold hard guilt that fell into them as their thoughts flicked back to their aunt and cousin.  
  
But now that they were calmer and thinking clearer, they remembered the note they had left at their front door, except they knew now that it wouldn’t be enough explanation to calm their family’s worries, they just wouldn’t understand why Frisk would ever suddenly leave out of the blue.

They let out a soft groan, rubbing at their eyes tiredly for a moment, _maybe they_ _were an idiot after all._

They looked around the room, their eyes casually eyeing the throne, despite the dark, goth, death metal vibe it had- it _actually_ looked pretty cozy, curious if the God would have any issues with them sitting in it, it didn’t seem like he cared very much about it if he had moved it from the center of the room.

…And he _had_ said for them to _sit_ …

So, they cautiously walked over to the throne, and slowly sat down, warily waiting for any type of response for a moment before they decided to make themselves comfortable, leaning back and directing their stare at the ancient ceiling- anywhere else but at the shrine that held their soul ( _which they refused to think about or acknowledge right now, they weren’t in the mood for getting upset again)_

Finally, they allowed themselves to finally space out.

_No…_ they were being too hard on themselves, it had been a, very long, very overwhelming day, they couldn’t be completely in the wrong for having a lot on their mind. . .

And he _did_ mention that he’d let them out once in a while, they could make visits to their family and friends and pretend that they weren’t a dominating monster God’s personal servant, maybe go out to eat somewhere nice…get some _sunlight_ …

There was always still that idea of somehow convincing him to let them free later on, hopefully by the power of friendship and trust and not lies and manipulation …

Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as bad as they thought, right... _?_

_Right!_ They just had to continue to stay positive!

All they had to do was keep a clear mind, keep positive, make the best of their situation, do what Asriel asked, hope he never lost his temper, remember that he had no romantic or sexual interest in humans, not ask him too many sad questions, or think too hard about the fact he had the ability to rip holes into the fabric of the universe or that he spied on them for half of their life and probably accidentally saw them naked or… _w o r s e …._

Frisk had to laugh at themselves as they caught their thoughts just in the knick of time before they drifted south again.

_Where were they? Oh yes-_ do all that and everything would be fine. Hopefully.

There was also the fact that T-Drop was finally free! They couldn’t wait to check on them and see how they were doing now that they didn’t have to deal with a big bully anymore and could go and do whatever they want.

_Would_ they even know they were free anymore though? _How did that even work out anyway?_ Maybe that’s what the God was doing right now- announcing to T-Drop that he no longer had any control of them. . . but would that really take an hour? Probably not…

Waiting on Asriel turned out to not be an issue, as Frisk continued to get lost in their musings, relaying the day in their mind, thinking of what was going to happen in their new life and how they were deal with it all.

The next fifty minutes passed by...

“My, that’s a sight,” an all too familiar voice said.

Frisk, who by then had lounged themselves across the large throne, their head resting on an armrest while their legs hooked over the other armrest.

Instantly embarrassed of being caught lying around so lazily by someone as uppity as the God, hastily moved around and hopped out of his throne.

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to sit there.. _or not…_ ,” they apologized.

Asriel waved them off “I don’t care, I don’t really use that thing as is, it was just something I made to get the old thrones out of the way and prove my ownership of this place, it’s been nothing but decoration for a long time,”

Frisk paused for a moment, feeling silly now, “oh… well okay, I guess I should have asked earlier, huh?”

“And have me miss that deer in the headlights face you made? I think not,” Asriel said with an amused grin.

Frisk gave him a tight frown before they patiently swatted the aggravation away, “don’t you have something to show me?”

His grin dialed down to an agreeable smile “yes, yes I do, come along,”

As they obeyed, they couldn’t help but eye the shrine as they began to pass it, they had done surprisingly well to block it out of their thoughts despite being in the same room as it, the whole experience had been… almost too much for them and they weren’t sure how to feel about it yet.

They felt as if maybe they should be sad at the loss, but… as they walked near it, they realized that their soul wasn’t actually lost at all, it was still linked to them… it was just…visible and out of their ownership now.

And while it sat trapped on top of the rather creepy shrine, it was pretty amazing to be able to see their soul, not every human got a chance like this.

Perhaps they had avoided it because they associated it with the loss of their freedom? That in itself was actually deeply tragic, and that’s how Frisk dealt with painful things sometimes, they’d wrap the trauma in a box and save it for later to deal with when they were ready… or until it jumped out at them at an inconvenient moment.

  
So as they began to pass the shrine, they suddenly felt the need to stop and stare, unable to avoid the tight feeling in their chest, it was definitely an inconvenient time to acknowledge the pain, but now that they’d found themselves staring at it, they were afraid they’d never have the courage to face it again.

“Can I have a second?”

“Are you kidding me? You had plenty of time to do this, and you will have plenty more time to do this later,” Asriel complained.

“I know it’s…just.. this whole thing was hard to think about and process, okay? But. _. I’m looking at it now, and I’m starting to see that I should appreciate the things I never consider, like the privilege of having independence, and all the other little things I took for granted_ ,” they explained, their voice quiet.

Asriel made the decision to give no comment and turned his back to them, a silent sign that he was going to let them have this.

Frisk continued to stare up at their soul, trapped within the finger claw cage, allowing the sorrow to fill them up, deciding to have a brief moment of grieving, sniffling as tears began to drip down their cheeks.

And as they began to cry, a question appeared in their mind and grew heavy.

When they felt they had enough composure to speak properly, they cleared their throat and spoke up “ _wh_ \- when you… _um_ , when you were holding my soul earlier, you said you could… _feel_ my emotions, can you still feel them?”

“Yes, when I gained ownership, I automatically became connected to it- almost as if it were truly my own, fortunately, I can only feel it faintly, and not as strongly as I did when I was directly holding it,” he clarified, turning back around to face them.

“ _Oh…_ ,” Frisk muttered, thinking about their current depressive emotions, but then they remembered earlier when they felt their troublesome attraction to the God act up, unsure if they should find it funny or be embarrassed again.

“How ‘faintly’ are we talking?” they asked curiously, looking up at him and blinking back their still tearful eyes.

He gave them a judgmental stare “don’t worry, it’s nothing I can’t brush off or ignore, I won’t be easily distracted by any of your worse ‘colorful’ array of emotions,”

Frisk couldn’t help but smirk teasingly, despite their pain, they were still unable to help themselves “so if I was…suddenly feeling…say ‘passionate’ and full of ‘longing’?”

Asriel folded his arms behind his back and turned his head up in disgust.  
“It would be no different, but since you’re Frisk, and I am fully aware of what you’re like, I’d toss you into Snowdin anyway, something cold to slow down your thoughts,”

Frisk held back a smug chuckle, nodding in understanding amusement, their gaze softening as they stared back up at their soul once more, the sadness recoiling back through them hard.

“You’ll let me go one day, _won’t you?_ ” they asked, their voice breaking, a new batch of tears flowing from their eyes now, unable to stop the tremble that ran through their body, covering their mouth as they let out a sob.

There were a few terrible seconds where he didn’t respond...  
They were on verge of crying harder but were startled, jumping in surprise when they felt his large hand suddenly rest on their shoulder.

“ _Yes, one day, I promise_ ,” he said, his voice weary “ _besides…_ I told you I would allow you to temporarily leave, remember? _I… hope_ that it will be enough to alleviate you until then,”

Frisk wiped their messy face with their hands “I know, _I know, it’s just hard okay? I’m really going to miss my family… and the way things used to be,_ ”

Asriel let out a gentle sigh and with a slight push against their shoulder, began to usher them out the room.  
“Come, perhaps what I have to show you will make things easier,”

Frisk had no choice but to comply, looking at the soul over their shoulder as they began walking.

  
“ _See ya later…_ ,” they whispered out to it.

Silently, he lead them back through the way they came, his hand still wrapped over their shoulder in what was _probably_ a show to comfort them, whatever the reason, it was only mixing up Frisk’s emotions and not in the good way.

It was funny how they’d entered the throne room fully accepting of giving up their soul, but came out realizing that they’d obviously been emotionally unprepared.

It was a lot like surgery in a way, they had allowed and given him full permission to do this to them, but still ended up getting their feelings hurt anyway.

So, after five minutes of walking and stewing over things, Frisk couldn’t take it any longer and let out an uncomfortable sigh and finally spoke up “can you please let go of me?”

The God seemed to hesitate for a second, but he removed his hand.

There it was again, the mixed signals, he never gave them a clear answer about being ‘friends’, and they could see why now but Frisk had been too brave and headstrong at the time to consider how they were going to deal with losing their soul and how they’d feel toward Asriel afterward.

Maybe they could still be friends after some time apart and Frisk got their head together, but right now it all felt too complicated.

…Then again, perhaps it would help things if they pointed out these mixed signals to him again, they didn’t want to risk their feelings and their strange ‘relationship’ with him going sour because they pushed him away for too long and didn’t allow themselves to be honest with him.

So, bundling up as much courage as they could, they brought themselves to ask a question about something that they’d been noticing but weren’t completely sure of.

“Asriel, do you feel… _guilty?_ ” they investigated “as in…do you.. _care about me?”_

At that, he let out a very long sigh through his nose.

“…You ask too many questions,”

Frisk pouted, “is it really that hard to tell me how you feel? From the get-go, you explained that you have an… ‘attachment’ to me, but you don’t want to admit that you want to be friends, you’ve been rude and mean, but…then you turn around and show me kindness, giving me warnings, and were patient with me when I was crying- like maybe… you feel guilty for treating me bad,”

There was a moment of silence between them, and for a few seconds, they looked to each other and their gaze connected, a certain kind of tenderness shining through in Asriel’s expression, until he twisted his frown and looked away.

Frisk on the other hand couldn’t help but continue to stare in wonder and couldn’t help but grin.  
“You can avoid being direct with me on the subject of feelings all you want Mr. Dreemurr, I’ll never really know until you tell me, but…just so you know, your actions in particular speak very loudly,”

“ _Shut up_ ,” he grumbled, unable to hide his embarrassment in his tone.

Frisk gave him an earnest smile, “you’re right, I have a really bad problem with being too forward when I’m excited, I’m sorry for pushing, it’s just that this day has had my head spinning,”

“ ** _ **You’re not shutting up…**_** ,” he growled.

Frisk raised their eyebrows, catching themselves “oh my gosh, I’m sorry,”

It was then that Asriel stopped floating, huffed impatiently and turned to the left and pushed his hands into the air, and to Frisk’s horror, as usual, he _ripped_ open the fabric of reality, pulling it open wide and revealing a large black hole, which was what they could only imagine was his Universe Pocket.

He got close to it and dug his entire arm inside, digging around for a few seconds until he pulled out a roll of duct tape.

He pulled out a wide strip, ripped it off with his sharp teeth, and without warning, floated to Frisk and securely covered it over their closed mouth, making sure to pat it down-

Meanwhile, Frisk, who was still stunned from seeing more of the pocket universe, could only stand there like a dummy and take their punishment, but was accepting of it anyway, it was only tape.

Pleased with his work, Asriel smiled smugly, tossing the duct tape behind him and back into the black hole, a metallic _ding!_ was heard as it smacked into something inside.

“There, that’s much better, duct tape may be the flashiest tool, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the more effective ones,” he said dusting his hands off “you’ll be allowed to talk again when we reach our destination, are you okay with that?”

“ _Mmmffhm_ ,” Frisk responded, nodding, despite how ridiculous it was, they knew when to accept when they’d messed up, and hey, he could have given them a much worse punishment, so this was fine.

“Good answer,” he affirmed, turning away momentarily to close the gaping hole back up “now let’s go, I’m getting impatient,” he said and began floating on again with Frisk following by his side.

“Also, I do NOT want to hear any of those weird filthy ‘kink’ jokes when we get there, got it?” he quickly added.

Frisk raised a suggestive eyebrow at him and smiled in amusement at him with their eyes, oho, he’d _definitely_ heard them talk and joke with their friends, but they’d respect the ‘civilized’ God’s wishes, giving him a firm nod.

Traveling through halls, halls, and more halls until finally, they walked up the small few flights of stairs that connected to the lookalike house.

“You may take your tape off now,” Asriel announced, floating on ahead of them, his arms folding behind his back patiently as he waited for Frisk to slowly pull the shut-up device off.

But when they began to struggle, meticulously attempting to pull on it from the edges without hurting themselves in the process, his patience was short lived and he snapped his fingers.

And with a **_**P O P !**_** the duct tape was instantly gone within the blink of an eye.

Frisk curiously touched at their mouth where the tape had been, “oh…thank you, did you just evaporate that, or… did you send it somewhere?”

“One does not evaporate duct tape, I sent it to the nearest trashcan,” he explained, then turned away from them, turning to the left “follow me, it’s time to show you your surprise,”

Frisk bit their bottom in anticipation, hoping he wasn’t about to play a cruel joke on them, but they obeyed, and as they walked and got a view of the hallway, their mouth dropped in surprise when they spotted a picture on the wall.

It was an _exact copy_ of the framed picture of a tiny toddler Frisk with their parents that they had back in their apartment.

They pointed to it with astonishment and looked over to the God for answers, was _this_ the surprise?

But he merely continued down the hall and motioned them to continue following.  
“I’ll explain momentarily, just c’mon,”

And as they did and saw the hall, they noticed more pictures on the wall, all exact copies of other pictures they had back at their apartment, there were also the same posters and decorations as well, it was almost as if he had moved everything from their home to this one.

He took them to the third door at the end of the hall, opening it with the use of his powers, allowing them to step in first.

And what Frisk saw, made them grin and begin to cry again, their tears this time due to happiness and sheer amazement.

Because the God actually _had_ moved all their belongings from their apartment to this one and had even made sure that this room was set _exactly_ like their old bedroom, the decorations, the color of wall _(sky blue)_ , the bed, their laptop, their art desk, the TV, their dresser, mirror, even the knick-knacks that sat on the bed was where they’d left it.

The only differences was the flooring, the lack of windows _(so no curtains)_ , and a golden bell that hung on the wall next to the door, oh and there was their backpack, it was good to see it.

Frisk walked in and carefully took it all in, so glad and relieved to be able to keep this piece of their life with them.

They then grinned brightly at Asriel, who was smiling as well, but as soon he noticed their face- he was visibly caught off guard, becoming embarrassed, his smile fading quickly.

“ _Thank you_ , you have no idea how much this means to me,” Frisk said, their voice sweet and light, wiping their face.

Asriel crossed his arms and looked away, “yes, well, I didn’t want to hear you whine about your missing possessions, and if you’re overjoyed with me about this, then you are going be bowing down to me when I show you the next room,”

Frisk silently gasped “ _is it a bathroom?_ ”

The God flashed an excited wide grin at them and hovered from view, with Frisk quickly following him out, finding him holding open the middle door for them readily.

Frisk’s mouth dropped comically as they found that low and behold, he had in fact also moved all their belongings from their old bathroom, toothbrush and all, and nearly arranged the same.

The best part was that he had installed an entirely brand new shiny bathtub, shower, toilet, and sink.

“Out of this entire project, I am the most proud of this room, it was why the wait was so long, I had to figure out the complexities of connecting the piping system, there was rarely a need for bathrooms down here so I didn’t exactly have much to work with, it was nice to have a challenging project,” he explained.

Frisk narrowed their eyebrows “ _wait…_ monsters don’t need _bathrooms?_ ”

He shrugged at that “most of the time we didn’t, we had monster food, it dissolves in the mouth instead of passing through the body, and depending on the quality- it renews you in an instant, and if we wanted to bathe we’d just go to the nearest body of water, but I digress, I’ve learned a long time ago that humans find comfort in little things like this and if it meant hearing one less complaint, then assembling bathroom this seemed like a good idea to me, ”

Frisk chuckled and shook their head “ _boy_ , I don’t even know where to begin…,”

“Just thank me again and we will be even,” he advised.

“ _Thank you_ , it was really sweet that you thought of my personal comfort,” Frisk said, giving him a light pat on his arm.

He eyed their hand as it made contact, but pulled his gaze over to the sink, looking rather embarrassed again, Frisk was beginning to find it funny how handsy he was but seemed to awkwardly shrink away at being touched back.

“So did you steal these too?” they asked, motioning to the newer additions.

“Of course I did, they’ve never been used either, I summoned them _brand new_ , straight from a warehouse,” he said rather proudly.

Frisk let out a sigh, deciding it was useless to argue to a God like Asriel how stealing was bad and that he cost the owners of the warehouse money, it was likely he already knew and didn’t care.

But then they realized something, perking up “did you get all my food too?!”

He grinned a big smug toothy grin at them “I did, what was the point of letting it go to waste anyway? Would you like to go see?”

They nodded excitedly and trotted quickly out of the bathroom, stopping momentarily at the living room to admire their furniture combined with the furniture that was already there, it was very cozy.

“You decorate very nicely,” Frisk complimented.

He merely smirked in response.

“Hmm, so does the TV work? _Or…?_ ” they asked, staring at the television nearby thoughtfully.

“Oh, it will work, I’ve long since figured out how to get working television and internet down here,” he said.

Frisk’s eyes lit up at that “did you say internet?”

“Yes, of course, you honestly believe I wouldn’t try to figure out how to get access to one of the best inventions of all time? Tsk, tsk,”

“No, it’s not that- it just means that I can keep in contact with my family after all!” they said happily, nearly bursting with joy.

Asriel rubbed at his chin “yes, I guess it does, doesn’t it? Perhaps I should have mention that earlier, oh well,” he then narrowed his eyes at them and then suddenly _glared._ _  
_“-No, wait, maybe I should turn it off… there’s always a possibility you could call for help and get someone to help you, next thing I know, there will be a SWAT team bursting through here and ruining everything,”

Frisk paused, alarmed by his reaction, holding up defensive hands in the air “okay, okay, calm down, I see where you're going with this and I know I’ve put myself in a less than ideal situation, but I made this choice to stay here, I made a _promise,_ and you did too, and as long you don’t break yours, I won’t have a reason to call for help, _okay Asriel?_ ”

He scowled “ ** _ **fine,**_** ** **but for the next two months I am giving you limited internet access**** ,”

Frisk sighed roughly “there you go again, y’know it really makes me nervous that you know full and well what I’m like, but you still can’t completely trust me,”

He sniffed nonchalantly, slowly calming back down “well, when kept in captivity, I’ve learned from thorough experience that monsters and humans alike become desperate to get out, and _you, the one who never gives up_ \- has never truly experienced anything like that until now, so, it is a mystery to how you will react,”

Frisk had to think that over for a moment, he wasn’t completely wrong, they’d definitely felt the stress and fear over the idea of being trapped here, before and after the deal, but as they looked around them and remembered the good things about the Underground and the reasons why they made the deal in the first place, they turned their attention back to the God and gave him a firm but confident smile.

“Maybe you’re right, but, there’s still a lot I want to see in your Underground, and you’ve made a point to make this place comfortable and feel like my home, and with internet and TV access I’m sure I’ll be able to keep happy enough to not want to leave so soon, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about right now,” they said, walking towards him.

He crossed his arms and stared at them suspiciously “and after you’ve seen it all? What will you do then?”

Frisk shrugged “who knows? Hopefully we’ll be friends by then and you’ll trust me enough to give me back my soul because you won’t be afraid of me never coming back,”

Asriel rolled his eyes “always a beam of sunshine and butterflies aren’t you?”

They flashed a flirty grin at him “opposites must attract, ey Mr. _Hyperdeath?_ ”

In response he merely screwed his face up in disgust and turned away, hovering off to the kitchen.

Frisk blinked and realized what had just happened, growing embarrassed and covering a hand over their face, _agh_ , they hadn’t meant for that to end up sounding so flirtatious, how could they just let that slip out like that?

And with that, he followed after them, ignoring the way he sighed when he caught view of their apologetic expression.

“I’m really sorry about that, I didn’t forget that you’re only monstersexual…it’s just that it’s hard for me to resist a good flirty joke,”

Asriel shook his head “you are _aware_ that most creatures are only attracted to their contained species, and that you’re just a freak and that this behavior toward me isn’t natural, right?”

Frisk’s mouth dropped, completely taken off guard, unsure of what to say at first, but as they watched him, the cogs in their mind began slowly turning “…. _ah, you-!_ You know what? I don’t see anything wrong with it at all, you’re a sentient, almost humanoid looking guy-God who can speak much better than I can, other than our wildly clashing personalities, I get a strong feeling that we’re not all that different from each other,”

At that, Asriel pretended to look ashamed of himself, even holding a hand to his mouth “oh, my greatest apologies!” but then he dropped the act to deadpan “you’re a _freak with no standards_ ,”

Frisk grimaced “and you’re rude and _judgmental_ ,”

They glowered at each other for a moment, until Asriel smirked tightly “are we going to name-call each other all day, or are you going to admire this kitchen with me?”

Frisk blinked, they’d been so caught up in the conversation they’d barely noticed the kitchen set up right in front of them, any heat from argument completely gone, for now.

They couldn’t help but smile as they finally noticed that yes, just like the other rooms, he indeed brought all of their belongings from their old kitchen, even the fridge, cabinets, handy dandy coffee maker, toaster, and toaster oven, however, it was joined by some of Asriel’s cookware too, a peculiar _(probably magic)_ oven, some oven mitts that appeared to have not been used in a while, and a few pots and pans. 

Frisk walked over to the fridge and opened it skeptically, their smile warming up as- _yes_ , everything was all there, and a bit fuller thanks to the addition of the God’s food, he really hadn’t been lying about liking his sweets, there was three different types of pies, several pudding cup packs, several yogurt cup packs, a jug of chocolate milk, several kinds of soda in glass bottles- some of which were brands they’d never heard of, and they were absolutely certain that if they opened the freezer drawer that they’d find ice cream.

“ _Wow_ , _if you were a human I’d be really worried about your sugar intake_ ,” Frisk mumbled, and moved from the fridge, turning back to the God.

“This really is a lovely prison, so far being kept in captivity isn’t so bad,” they half-joked.

Asriel let out a loud laugh at that “yes, well, you’re no use to me _completely_ miserable,”

Frisk then remembered something “soooo, you didn’t show me what was behind the first door, is it _your_ bedroom?”

He scoffed “ _no_ , I’ve used the first room as extra storage, for your other belongings that I couldn’t find a place for, and believe it or not, my ‘home’ is located back in Hotland,”

At this news, a rush of relief washed through Frisk, the idea of sleeping or showering knowing that the God would be on the other side of the door was a little too much for them.

But it did make some sense that he’d didn’t want to live in his _(dead?)_ father’s home, but then again…

“Okay, then why is your food and cooking stuff in here?” they asked.

He shrugged “I like this kitchen?” but then shook his head “never mind all that, there is one last thing I need to go over with you before I let you be today,”

They quirked their head at him curiously “and what’s that?”

“Your assigned attire,” he said and snapped his fingers.

It took a few seconds for them to register what he’d just done, but as they saw him grin proudly and followed his gaze they couldn’t help but let out a small embarrassed shriek.

He had _literally_ _re-dressed_ them, and had draped them in a similar type of robe that he wore, except this one was much less dramatic with no ragged edges in sight, it was light lavender, had the same rune design on the chest, came with a hood, had long sleeves _(but nothing as severe as the God’s sleeves)_ , and came up right above the ankle.

For a split second, they couldn’t help but admire the outfit, but after they realized that the God had stripped them of their clothes and forced them to wear a uniform without their consent, they grew _furious._

__

And, at first, they were at a loss for words, unsure of where to start, deciding to double-check and assess how deep this new predicament went, grabbing at the front of their collar and peeking underneath the robe, _hah_ , well, at least he had been generous enough to let them keep their boots, underwear, and sports bra!

With that final piece of evidence, they glared harshly up at him, their anger slow and quiet “ _no_ , this is _not allowed_ , _I am not doing this,_ ”

Asriel’s smile dropped, raising an eyebrow at them “what do you mean ‘not allowed’? You HAVE to wear it, you BELONG to me and now you have to REPRESENT me,”

Frisk curled their hands into frustrated fists “to _who?!_ No one else but YOU and T-Drop will see this getup! You’ve already practically stripped me from my freedom, now you want to take away my sense of individuality too?! _Maybe_ I would’ve done this if you’d asked politely, but this is too far! I refuse to boost your already glorified ego Mr. Monster!”

Asriel’s already intense features grew more furrowed, rushed over to them, taking full advantage of his dominating height “you have **_**a lot of nerve**_** speaking to me that way! What did you expect when you gave your soul to me anyway? **_**When I said you were mine, and I MEANT it Frisk, and part of the rules say you have to DO AS I SAY!**_** ”

“You _also_ said I was no use to you miserable! And if I wear this I am going to be _miserable!_ Rule or no rule, I’m NOT comfortable with this and I REFUSE to be treated like a doll! It makes me feel like…I don’t know… _like a slave!_ ” they cried out, standing as tall and brave as they could back. 

The God stared at them wide-eyed with disbelief before he roared at them-

“ ** **YOU**** ** _ **A R E**_** ** **A SLAVE!!**** ”

But the comment only pushed Frisk further into their anger “you know what?! FINE! Get angry! Yell at me! _CALL_ ME A SLAVE! But I know the truth Mr. Dreemurr! You’re just a bored, lonely, sour monster man-child who’s finally gotten what he’s wanted, AND I REFUSE to play it your way! Because I’m not scared of you and you _can’t_ make me do this!”

The God snarled, baring his teeth at them, he crouched down and grabbed both their arms firmly, pulling Frisk in close.

“ ** _ **You can and YOU WILL! This act of early rebellion will get you nowhere Frisk, because I swear, if you utter one more word of disobedience- I will do it, I WILL punish you- but oh, that’s right, you think just because I can’t harm you that I won’t take the time to figure out how to work myself around the rules, TRUST ME, I WILL make you suffer, that by the end of it you will BEGGING me for mercy,**_** ”

Frisk grit their teeth as he took hold of their chin, forcing them even closer, his fierce red eyes burning into their golden hazel ones, why couldn’t they ever look away when he was like this?

“ ** _ **So what do you say that Frisk? Hm? Will you obey me, wear your robe, or are you curious to find out what I’m capable of?**_** ”

For a moment, Frisk was speechless, unsure of what to do, but they kept strong, and with a burst of courage, they reached up to grab the God’s wrists tightly and smiled valiantly.

“If it means giving up my individuality, then I’ll _NEVER_ obey you, do what you want to me, I’m not wearing this _stupid robe…_ _now please take your massive grabby hands OFF me, sir_ ,”

Something dropped in the God’s eyes, his mouth gaping as he realized they weren’t going to listen to him, no matter what he said or did, he then directed his stare at his own hands, almost as if he just noticed what he was doing with them and instantly released Frisk, regaining his posture, hovering tall before them once again.

“ ** _ **FINE**_** ** **, don’t wear the damn robe, but know this only means that you’ll have to run around n a k e d ,”**** The God uttered out.

Of course, Frisk was rightfully horrified, frozen with fear as they saw he wasn’t joking.

But then… as they searched his face, relief washed over them like water in a drought as they saw it, how his lower jaw trembled and the way his eyes faltered from theirs, he hadn’t meant it, _he had spoken without thinking it through._

So before he had the chance to take it back, Frisk flashed a big flirty grin at him.

“Well, okay, if you _insist_ ,” they said nonchalantly, and reached down, holding their breath as they grabbed the hem of their robe, leisurely taking their time to lift it up, pretending to give a peep show as their bare legs came into view, how scandalous.

Asriel’s eyebrows raised higher and higher with shock, dumbfounded by every inch of skin revealed, his jaw dropping again as their thighs begun to show-

That was when panic took hold of him and with a flurry of black robe- _dove at them,_ crouching down and grabbing at their hands in desperation, forcing them to stop, seconds before they could flash their underwear.

There was a moment of silence as Asriel stared stunned at the sight of his hands covering Frisk’s, both holding the garment in place at their hips.

He then made the mistake of looking at them, their gaze interlocking once again.

Except something was different this time around, it was the first time he’d gotten this close to them without being angry, but no, right now there was only suspense.

The air between them becoming intense and heavy, something deep and intimate shifting in Asriel’s expression and Frisk was becoming fully aware of it, their face heating up and their heart thumping away inside their chest once again, they refused to move a muscle, anticipating whatever this God may do next…

For what felt like ages, neither of them moved, as if both were hypnotized and locked in their own minds, waiting for the other...

But finally, Asriel audibly swallowed an anxious lump in his throat and tightly closed his eyes, letting go of Frisk once again, turning his back on them.

“You know what, I don’t CARE anymore! Wear whatever you want, wear a damn tutu and a fake mustache! But for this, you WILL pay severely!”

And without warning, he warped away, leaving them alone.

Frisk, who was still stunned, stared off into the distance, standing there for a moment, before they shivered and managed to get a hold of themselves, letting out a breathy sigh.

“ _I can’t believe I did that_ ,” they whispered to themselves “ _what did he mean though? What am I’m going to pay for? The robe?_ ”

But they shook it off, they were sure they’d find out whenever he got back, but for now, they didn’t have it in them to worry too much, deciding to take the moment of peace to get this thing off of them.

Except when they opened their drawers to their dresser and not counting their undergarments, found _absolutely nothing,_ letting out a frustrated grunt.

Even the extra change of clothes in their backpack was gone too!

“ _ASRIEL!!_ ” they screamed out “I _THOUGHT_ YOU SAID I COULD WEAR WHAT I WANTED! _WHERE THE HECK ARE MY CLOTHES?_!”

They looked around the room expectantly, waiting for some kind of answer, but as the seconds passed, their frustration only rose.

“ _Ughhh_ , not the silent treatment again! I thought we were over that!”

But then, they remembered something else and went over to their laptop, switching it on, and after a few moments of checking the network and internet settings, they found no sign of any Wi-Fi signals to connect to.

Asriel had mentioned having internet, and if it was available at all, it should have appeared on the Wi-Fi list, or… he might have even set up some kind of strange system on their laptop for all they knew.

But nothing could be found, he’d deliberately shut off his router or whatever he used for his internet to cut them off from the outside world, but, hadn’t he said that there would be ‘ _limited_ internet access’ for two months? At the time they weren’t sure if he’d fully committed to that choice or what, but it was clear at the moment there was only ‘ _zero_ internet access’.

Still, it was extremely annoying that he had done this at all.

“Is this how I’m going ‘to pay’…? By him _grounding me?_ ” they grumbled, and to make sure, they flipped on their TV, and yep . . . just static, they flipped it back off.

Well, they were the one who had said that ‘they didn’t care what he did’ after all, perhaps they should have chosen their words better…

But then another thought came to their mind and they rushed off to the bathroom, relieved to find that he at least hadn’t taken _that_ away, then, closed the door behind them as they decided to see how well it worked, a nice shower sounded exactly what they needed, it was another reason to take off the robe too!

Actually, they were happy to remove all of their clothing _(especially their boots)_ and get under some water, because after all that walking and sweating for several different occasions for several different reasons, finding that yes, this is exactly what they needed, thankful the God hadn’t thought to get rid of the hot water either, the way he had spoken earlier, it was likely he felt that Frisk needed a cold shower.

They couldn’t help but think of the way he had stared earlier, unsure of how to interpret what they’d seen, had they imagined it, or was that _lust_ they’d seen in his eyes? Maybe that’s why he had turned away so quickly and disappeared, maybe _he_ was the one taking the cold shower.

At that line of thought, Frisk couldn’t help let out an embarrassed flustered laugh, but then laughed harder as they pictured a soaked God of Hyperdeath, standing hunched over, angry, miserable, and naked in the rivers back in Snowdin, blending in very well with the white snowy surroundings.

But they rubbed the water from their eyes and frowned at themselves.

Maybe they were thinking about this the wrong way, maybe he was freaking out and didn’t know how to deal with them attempting to strip their clothes off in front of him, he wasn’t ‘interested’ but he was ‘civilized’ after all, right?

They’d seen the regret in his face after his comment about going nude, they were thankful he hadn’t meant it, but at the same time, Frisk was still angry at him and was proud of their body… so taking off the robe had been something of a no brainer, if he hadn’t stopped them they knew they would have kept going, thrown that robe at his feet and storm off to their bedroom.

At the same time, they were glad he’d stopped them, they had acted on impulse and anger, but at least this whole thing showed them that there was definitely much more going on inside the God’s head that he refused to say.

…It was strange wasn’t it? They’d only officially met him today, yet at the same time…it was so easy to talk to him and think of him as a _(very difficult and problematic)_ friend, it was almost like they’d known him for years, but it was likely some kind of another magical effect of him watching over them for half of their life.

Despite the rocky rough start, they still weren’t opposed to the idea of them being friends, because if they looked past his arrogant, selfish, bullying, harsh ways, they could see he was thoughtful, funny _(in his own way)_ , fun to talk to, _(when he wanted to be)_ polite, intelligent, and again, when he wanted to be- very kind.

But right at the moment, they were still very angry with him, and until they got their clothes back…there would be little to no chance of them becoming friends.

As they stepped out of the shower, dried off, and moisturized, they eyed the robe they’d folded and sat on the edge of the sink, there was absolutely no way they were going to put it back on, at for at least for the rest of the evening they weren’t.

“ _Guess I’m wearing the towel,_ ” they mumbled, then proceeded to wrap said cloth around their body, tucking it in above the chest, yeah, this wasn’t a bad look actually.

Still, they found themselves peeking outside of the door first before they stepped out, quietly padding down the hallway with their boots, hair tie, robe, underwear, and sports bra in their arms.

After putting everything away and getting a new pair of underwear on, they vaguely wondered if their washing machine and dryer were in the spare room, perhaps that was something to check out, something hot to drink sounded pretty good too.

So they set out again, shyly holding on to their crossed arms as they walked out, making their way to the first door, finding that yep, this was definitely serving as both the laundry and storage room now, spotting the blinds and curtains that used to hang at their windows, and a whole bunch of other things that used to reside in their closet that _wasn’t an article of clothing._

Pleased with this, they left the room and continued on their way to the kitchen.

But they stopped dead in their footsteps when they found the God, sitting comfortably in the recliner nearby the lit fireplace, casually eating a slice of pie as if their argument hadn’t happened.

_However_ , when he looked up and caught sight of them still slightly damp and wrapped up in nothing but the towel, they couldn’t but help notice how his eyes lingered at their wardrobe choice, but made no other reaction, merely looking back down to his pie calmly.

“So, can you tell me why you took my clothes?” Frisk finally asked after a moment of silence.

Instead of giving them an answer, without looking up, Asriel held up an index finger, motioning them to wait.

  
“No talking until I’m done eating,” he commanded.

At that, Frisk let out a long annoyed sigh, crossing their arms tighter, well, if he was going to be like _that,_ they might as well make use of the free time, walking past him, continuing on to the kitchen, deciding hot chocolate was what they wanted, _they deserved it_.

As they fixed it, they kept full attention of their surroundings, they weren’t exactly in the mood for any more sneaky surprises from the God, finding it annoying that they simply couldn’t just listen for footsteps when the guy refused to touch the ground.

Thankfully he let them be and was still sitting by the fireplace when they returned, their favorite mug in hand, it had a picture of a few signature Halloween creatures dancing among a field of sunflowers.

They noted that not only was the God’s pie was gone and finished, but the plate was gone too, meaning he must have warped it elsewhere, which was interesting because they hadn’t noticed anything appear while they were in the kitchen, but they decided it wasn’t important enough to bring up.

They took a seat on the couch nearby, crossing their bare legs and taking a long sip of their hot chocolate, making a point to savor it, enjoying the smell and taste rather than give too much focus on the creature that sat a few feet away, they didn’t want to stress over this any more than they already had.

“Soooo?” they began.

“‘Soooo’ what?” he mocked.

They couldn’t help but glare and wave a hand at him “where are _my clothes?_ ”

“My Universe Pocket, you’ll be getting them back tomorrow morning,”

Frisk relaxed some at the news “that’s reasonable… _I guess_ , so… um, what’s going on with the internet?”

“Oh, yes, you checked on that did you? Well, I’ve decided to take away your internet for three months, and no TV for one month, these things are only the beginning of your punishment,” he clarified.

The momentary relief at the news about their clothes was forgotten as they grew agitated all over again, taking a long sip of their hot chocolate to prepare for what they were going to say next.

“So this is what’s going on now? Parent-level punishments to warm me up for something bigger? You’re not my dad-,”

“ _Oh,_ _I am_ ** _ **definitely**_** _not_ _your dad_ ,” he muttered lowly, obviously bothered by the comment.

Frisk raised an eyebrow at that and held back a chuckle, wondering what he could possibly mean by that, but shook it off, reminding themselves that they were supposed to be mad.

“Okay…? Seriously, I told you that the internet was my only way to contacting my family, how could do this to me?”

Asriel sat up straight in the recliner at that, glaring hard at them “you also said you didn’t CARE what I did to you, it seems you really need to learn to think before speaking, hm?”

Frisk pouted, taking another sip “maybe I do, all I know is that I don’t regret standing up to you, but… _look_ , is it possible if we can do this some other way? Is there something else I could give up instead?”

“No, you made your choice and I’ve made mine, get over it Frisk,” he growled.

Frisk stared at him hard, thinking of things to say, but… realized that he was the one who wasn’t going to give in this time, besides, they broke a rule, hadn't they? Guess they really did have to pay for this.. even if it wasn’t fair, still they were tired now and didn’t want to fight about it, at least for the rest of the day.

“ _Fine_ ,” they sighed, unhooking their legs and sinking back into the couch, fully allowing themselves to unwind and relax, gazing softly at the fire as it crackled, allowing it to warm their bones.

“You _really_ did not want to wear that robe, _did you?_ ” Asriel mumbled lowly, finally saying something after a silent couple of minutes.

“ _To be honest, I genuinely like the robe, what I didn’t like was you dressing me up without my consent, that was pretty gross of you_ ,” they admitted quietly, staring down into their mug.

“Hm, if you put it that way… I can see where I went wrong, but…,” he let out a heavy sigh “no, even this won’t change my mind, you still disobeyed me,” he said, resting his head against his palm, watching them lazily.

“Well, since you know you did bad, can I punish you too?” they casually asked.

He let out a low chuckle “that sounds fair, what do you have in mind?”

Frisk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise “ _uuuhhh,_ wow, I was kind of joking… I really didn’t think you’d actually go for that,”

He shrugged “I can’t imagine you could come up with anything that could ever seriously inconvenience me,”

It was Frisk’s turn to chuckle “alright, so… did you say you can survive without eating?”

Asriel’s smile slowly faded at that “…yes…?”

“Okay, then, for three months or at least for as long as I don’t have internet, you can’t eat anything,” they said, trying their best to ignore the terrible guilty feeling in the pit of their stomach.

The God let out an immature groan, “you cannot be serious,”

Frisk smiled goofily and spoke in their best overdramatic Godly voice “it SEEMS YOU NEED TO LEARN TO THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK, _HM?_ ” and took another long sip of their hot chocolate, making sure to hold their pinky out for fancy emphasis.

Fortunately, he didn’t stay completely bothered for too long, laughing at himself, “ _heheheh_ , _why do I keep underestimating you?_ ”

“Maybe it’s because watching me and actually being around me is a lot more different than you thought it would be,” they said, drinking up the rest of their drink.

Asriel’s smile slowly faded, “ _yes…_ now that I’ve had the time to think it over, _you’re right_ , I should have just asked you instead,”

Frisk’s eyebrow rose “does that mean your sorry?”

He let out another heavy sigh “it means what it means,” he then stared up at one of the clocks on the wall, decorated to look like an artistic version of the sun, it had a delicately painted on face.  
“Hm, nine forty, I should probably go ahead and explain to you that I have decided, that every day once ten PM has struck, that I will leave you be and you are allowed to have the house to yourself until dawn,”

Frisk perked up at this “really? That’s cool, thank you,”

He nodded, then stuck a hand inside one of the pockets of his robe, pulling out an old purple flip phone, to which he levitated in the air, sending it out Frisk, allowing them to reach out and take it.

“That’s yours, I mentioned earlier I can’t hear you if I’m out of earshot, it’s made me realize that you’ll most definitely think of a hundred more questions when I’m not around, so, just…call me if you need to,” he explained.

Frisk opened and clicked around, finding that _(of course)_ his name was the _only_ contact on the list, with a smile they switched to the camera option and held it up, pointing it in the God’s direction, snapping a quick picture of him without warning.

“Did you just _…?_ ” he began, narrowing his eyes at them

“Yeah, of course I did, I need a contact picture for you after all,” they said as they fiddled around a little more with their new toy, a playful smile on their face, but as they finished, something occurred to them and their smile dropped, looking up at him with suspicion.

“Did you fix this too? I don’t see any bars on it-,” they started but were cut off.

“Remember that Royal Scientist I talked about? There was another that replaced him, she wasn’t anything compared to him, but she was capable of. . . recreating things, among her re-creations she was able to give the Underground its own version of the internet, and tinker with already existing cellphones so everyone could keep in touch, the one your holding is one of them,”

Frisk stared down at the device “so…it won’t work outside the mountain?”

“Afraid not, I thought of finding a way to make it work as I did with the internet, but…what would’ve been the point when I had no one to call?” he said, drumming his fingers thoughtfully against his cheek.

“I understand… so…does it need a charger?” they asked, flipping the phone closed.

“No, _anyway_ , I am about to take leave for the night, do you have anything else you want to talk about?” he asked.

Frisk had to think for a moment before they remembered something important, “T-Drop is completely free right?”

Asriel shifted in his seat, looking particularly ready to get up “ _yes_ , _that was the deal_ ,” he sighed, sounding somewhat annoyed.

“But do they _know_ that they’re free?” they asked.

He cracked a devious amused grin at that “probably not, they’re most likely still slinking around Waterfall, I have yet to go visit them,”

Frisk’s frown tightened “well, we should go see them tomorrow, I didn’t want to tell them what I was going to do, but they deserve to know, I don’t want to leave them in the dark about this any longer than I have to,”

“Fine, we will go see them, we will be heading back that way anyway, now… anything else?” he asked.

“Ummm… how early are you going to wake me up?”

“Five O'clock AM, but only to give you time to prepare for the day, we will actually be setting out at six,” he said, smirking in amusement at Frisk’s deeply insulted expression at the news.

“I’m usually a morning person and all, but what in the world are we going to _do_ that requires me to get up that early?!” they asked.

Asriel laughed “oh, you’ll see,” he then got up from his recliner “now… _goodnight Frisk._ ”

And with that, he warped away, the embers in the fireplace dying away at his absence.

“Goodnight… _you big ol’ mean jerk_ ,” they sighed out and got up, making one last visit to the kitchen to put away their mug and a quick snack to hold them over for the night, another quick visit to the bathroom, then went back to their bedroom.

The first thing they did was throw off their towel, sat the new phone on their dresser, flipped off the lights, turned on the fan, and slid into their bed, pulling the covers over their head, fully ready for sleep to take them away.

But… sleep didn’t come as quickly as they wanted.

All they could think about was their family.

They had tried their _hardest_ to be positive today, seeing the best in the worst of people and situations was something that came easy to them, but after today they found themselves struggling, there were too many things to worry about, thinking of the pain they’d feel when they’d begin to miss their family and vice versa.

They were aware it wasn’t fully their fault that they’d lost their internet, but they still put the blame on themselves, because if they hadn’t fought back, they wouldn’t have provoked the God, right?

They could have negotiated further when making the deal, they could have changed something that could have involved them not staying full time in this place, but no, the God had taken them off guard and probably knew it too, it just wasn’t fair, _none of it was._

As the dark cloud in their mind took over, they began to cry again, sobbing on and off for the rest of the night, still trying their hardest to stay positive, but in these circumstances, in the dark of the night, it was hard to see the light, and staying positive was becoming less and less easy to do.

But, eventually, around four AM they _finally_ managed to fall into sleep.

In their drifting consciousness, they promised themselves that things wouldn’t stay terrible forever.

The sun was going to rise again and things would get better, it always did.


	7. The Slow Start To A New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk wakes up to the first day of their new life with The God of Hyperdeath, curious to see where it takes them.

**Inspiration Song:** Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Adona

_Well you're the real tough cookie with a long history_   
_Of breaking little hearts like the one in me_   
_That's okay, let's see how you do it_   
_Put up you dukes, let's get down to it_

_Hit me with your best shot_   
_Why don't you hit me with your best shot_   
_Hit me with your best shot_

_Fire away_

_You come on with it, come on_   
_You don't fight fair_   
_But that's okay, see if I care_   
_Knock me down, it's all in vain_   
_I get right back on my feet again_

_Hit me with your best shot_   
_Why don't you hit me with your best shot_   
_Hit me with your best shot_

  
_Fire away_

They had only gotten one hour of sleep in before the clock hit five o'clock and the bell that sat next to their door rang.

Frisk, however… was deep in their slumber, the ringing going unheard on deaf ears.

So after ten minutes, the bell rang again.

But this time it didn’t quit, going off much like an alarm clock.

This, of course, was a rude awakening for Frisk, the only response they could muster was a long weak moan of annoyance, shifting around unhappily under the sheets, vacantly wondering what was causing the noise and why it was doing this to them so early.

“Wake up! I _told_ you I’d be here by five!” they heard a muffled voice call loudly from behind the door.

It took them a few seconds to recognize the voice and remember that this was their life now.

“ _You’re harming me!_ ” Frisk cried out wearily, lethargic and desperate for the ringing to stop.

At that, the bell stopped ringing and they heard the God chuckle from the distance.

“I will be waiting in the living room, if you do not come out within three minutes I will start up the bell again,” he called.

“ _Mmmf_ , I’ll do… _something_ ,” Frisk grumbled as they struggled to navigate through their fuzzy brain, laying there for a few more seconds, slowly waking up before they pushed themselves up, sluggishly going for the door before they remembered their partial nudity and how the God seemed to feel about it.

So, they swayed around, instead of going over to the dresser, smiling sleepily to see the return of their clothes, picking out a light comfortable outfit that consisted of a loose T-shirt and leggings, they’d throw on their jacket and boots when it was time to leave.

They of course made a bathroom visit before seeing Asriel, taking their time to wash their face, brush their hair and teeth, putting their hair up out the way and back up into a ponytail, among doing all the other usual things they did when they had an important day to look forward too, and maybe some extra fluff and duffing… they didn’t want to admit it, but giving the circumstances they were _slightly_ conscious of their appearance, they weren’t used to sharing space with anyone like the God, then again, _who would be…_

That’s when they remembered that he’d most likely seen them like this many times, the tired face, standing in front of a sink with a toothbrush in their wide-open mouth, trying not to gag as they brushed their tongue.

Heck, there was probably even a chance he’d accidentally seen them on the toilet, the way he talked it sounded like he’d never know what he’d find when checking up on them, it was kind of funny once they thought about it… and _very embarrassing too._

It was probably the reason why he decided to leave at ten PM, or didn’t bother opening the door or warping into the room when waking them, it was likely he was aware of what they liked to practice every now and then in the bed.

It was also likely that he was aware of how much they hadn’t wanted to wear the robe, and had figured that they had indeed slept half-naked.

Or maybe he was just being polite and was being mindful of their privacy, _who knew._

Soon enough, they came out, and just as he had said, he was sitting in the living room, looking rather bored until he caught sight of their feet, looking up at them with an mixed expression that Frisk couldn’t quite read.

“You took a while,”

Frisk let out a soft sigh “ _sorry_ , my morning routines usually take that long,”

“No, I meant it took you a while to _wake up_ ,” he corrected.

Frisk stared at him for a few moments before they sleepily rubbed at their eyes, deciding to just be upfront with the God “I had a hard time going to sleep last night, I was upset,”

He gave them a stern nod and looked away, staring off at the floor “ _I noticed_ ,”

Frisk had nearly forgotten that he was able to feel their emotions now, for a second, they wondered why he hadn’t checked on them- but then remembered that he probably realized that he was a huge part of the reasons for making them upset…

So maybe thought leaving them be would probably be better?

_Ah, whatever_ , they were still too drowsy to worry about stuff like that right now.

“I’m having breakfast, hope you don’t mind,” they simply said and walked on, it took them a few seconds to realize that the God had gotten up and was now hovering a couple of feet behind them, following behind like a gigantic powerful puppy.

They turned around at smirked lazily at him “I’m sorry, but you _do_ remember that you can’t eat anything, right?”

Asriel rolled his eyes “ _of course I do_ , I am just curious, what are you going to make?”

“Nooo clue, but I’ll figure it out,” they said and turned their attention back to the kitchen, walking up to the fridge and opening it “I’m not that hungry, but something tells me I should pack on the protein anyway,”

“You are correct, make something that will last you a while or… pack something for later,”

“Or both,” Frisk added, then made their decision, pulling out two eggs and two slices of bread and their little container of spreadable butter.

“Egg sandwich?” Asriel questioned.

“ _Toasted_ egg sandwich,” Frisk confirmed and went to work.

Meanwhile, while levitating, Asriel got into a sitting position, crossing his legs while he watched Frisk make breakfast, entertained by the simple process of creating food.

But whether it was because of their lack of sleep or their focus on cooking or both, Frisk didn’t notice as Asriel floated closer and closer, literally watching over their shoulder as they worked.

“ _That smells really good_ ,” he commented suddenly, catching Frisk off guard and starling them, his deep husky voice vibrating in their ear- sending a familiar chill to run down their spine and making them yelp in alarm and when they spotted him in the corner of their eye and fully realized just how close he was, they automatically jumped away.

“ _Ah! Seriously, haven’t you ever heard of a personal bubble?!_ ” they blurted out, laughing from the excitement, they just _knew_ they were blushing, they wanted to be mad, they _should_ have been mad, but they just couldn’t help it.

He held up a defensive hand, looking rather embarrassed himself but was seemingly handling it better.

“Okay, I will take responsibility for that, but it was all a misunderstanding, I was only just trying to get a better look at the food, I did not realize how close I was to you,”

Frisk rubbed the back of their neck, they could practically still feel the tingle in their spine, letting out a slow sigh “are you sure? You did the same thing back in Snowdin, remember the diner and the jukebox?”

At the mention, Asriel chuckled slyly.

“Oh, yes, well, what happened there was all on purpose,”

Frisk scrunched their face at him, going back to work on their sandwich, putting on the final touches.

“Are you _kidding?_ You nearly scared me half to death with that act,”

He laughed more “I couldn’t resist, I had been waiting to meet you for far too long, _besides…_ you didn’t seem to mind it too much this time, you laughed,”

Frisk shook their head, grabbing their plate and taking it over to the table.

“Probably because I knew who the voice belonged to this time,” they said and turned back around to the kitchen, momentarily stopping, looking up to meet Asriel’s gaze, smirking flirtatiously, deciding to test the waters again…

  
“Also, don’t know if you knew this or not… but, I’ve got sensitive ears, so all these times you’ve leaned in real close and personal and talked in that low voice of yours, well. . . let’s just say.. _it’s made me feel…_ _tingly~,_ ”

Again, like earlier, Asriel looked at them with a deep mixed expression that they couldn’t read, but he did hesitate to speak, his mouth opening to say something but nothing came out.

Frisk quirked an eyebrow at them in weary suspicion but as the seconds ticked by they became embarrassed all over again, what were they _thinking?_ He’d already told them he wasn’t interested and now they’d made things weird!

…But… _then again_ , there was some strange evidence to show that maybe he was _lying…_

But whatever, it was too early for this kind of stuff, they didn’t know where their head was at.

Unable to handle the pressure, Frisk spoke up.

“Sorry, that was too much wasn’t it? I should shut up,” they apologized, giving him a quick platonic pat on the arm before they walked past him, hurrying to get something to drink.

As they made their choice and began pouring their orange juice, they’d noticed he’d silently taken a seat nearby to where they’d sat their food, he was staring blank-faced, looking over at his claws.

“So what are we doing today?” they asked as they walked over to the table, sitting their drink down and then themselves, taking their time to eat.

Whatever he had been thinking about, he effectively shook off, looking to them thoughtfully.

“We will be tending to the gardens… and… originally I had planned to make you go alone, but I’ve decided it would be best if I went with you,”

They swallowed “the garden _sss?_ Plural?”

He cracked an amused grin “yes, we’ll start with the one in the throne room and then we will travel to the one back in the Ruins,”

Their eyebrows shot up “the _Ruins?_ But it’s so far away…,”

He snickered “yes, I’m fully well aware, that’s why I’m coming with you, you moron, you obviously need an escort to find your way back, and don’t worry, it won’t be that bad, there’s a special boat we can take,”

“Why can’t we just fly again?” they asked.

Asriel frowned at that “because I cannot use the power of my wings for every little insignificant thing, besides, with the way things have been going between us, I’m starting to see that you could… _benefit from some personal space_ ,”

A slow smile appeared on Frisk’s face but they decided against anymore talking, right now they just wanted to relax and eat while they had this moment of peace.

But soon enough, breakfast was finished, with Frisk back to the kitchen to cook up a packed lunch for later, a simple chicken sandwich, two oranges, and another bottle of tea, all of which Asriel took and snuck into his Universe Pocket.

After slipping on their black jacket and boots, Frisk declared themselves ready to tend to some gardens.

Not a lot was said on the way to the throne room.

But once they began getting closer and closer, the thought of seeing their soul again made Frisk antsy, and to distract themselves they decided to ask some questions they thought of asking earlier.

“So…you like flowers?”

“ _Hmph_ , it depends on what type of flowers we’re talking about, but don’t worry I know where you’re going with this… I don’t really care one way or another for them, I’m only keeping these particular gardens around for purely _… old sentimental reasons_ ,” he explained.

“ _To honor the memory of your family?_ ” Frisk asked, as gently as they possibly could.

Asriel went very quiet at that, staring off into the distance again, thinking over something difficult, almost as if he wasn’t sure how he was going to answer the question, or maybe he didn’t want to answer it at all…

But as soon as Frisk began to accept he wasn’t going to say anything, he finally spoke up, his tone of voice tense and serious.

“ _Yes… that’s correct,_ so that being the case _,_ I hope I do not need to remind you that these gardens are very important to me, and that it would be very wise if you didn’t screw up anything, do you understand?”

Frisk was surprised by his tone shift, but they knew enough about losing family to know to respect his wishes.

“I understand, I promise that I will be _very_ gentle, no flower will be hurt or even be bent under my care,”

To their surprise, the God let out a warm chuckle at that.

“It is a good thing I have evidence for that claim,”

Frisk paused for a moment, confused before they finally thought back to their aunt’s garden that they had helped raised together _(which was still thriving to this day)_ , gardening was never one of Frisk’s main favorite activities, but they couldn’t deny that they had a definite talented green thumb and really loved to see things grow and come to life.

_Hm_ , it was probably one of the reasons why he was trusting them with such a sacred task in the first place, wasn’t it?

But then another question appeared in their mind.

“...Not that I don’t want to…but…why do you need my help anyway? You’re a _god_ , you put a _hole_ in the _fabric of space,_ don’t you know a way to keep the flowers alive without really trying?” they asked.

At that Asriel chuckled once more, but this time he sounded slightly annoyed, judging by the gruff little sigh he gave…

“ _Frisk_ , in what way do you think a god who is called ‘Hyperdeath’ has any ability in keeping things alive and growing? I may be capable of many things, but my main specialty is death, not _life_ , the closest I could ever come to bringing something to life is if I turn back time,”

It was then Frisk felt a tingle of embarrassment, running their fingers through their bangs, and rubbing at their eyes while they were at it as well.

“...Yeah, okay, that…makes a _ton_ of more sense now that you’ve put it that way… _geez my head is so foggy this morning_ ,”

“Why didn’t you make any coffee?” he asked.

“ _I don’t know…I guess I should have huh?_ ” Frisk mumbled as they pulled their hand away from their eyes “I’m sorry if this is turning out to be a rough start,”

Asriel eyed them over his shoulder, as if he were trying to make sense of them, or was simply annoyed.

“You need to stop over apologizing, you’re almost as bad as the ghost and it’s beginning to get on my nerves,”

Frisk cracked a shy sleepy smile “… _sorry?_ ”

He simply sighed once more and rolled his eyes.

Soon enough, they made it to the throne room, with the God pulling out a pair of gardening gloves, a bag of fertilizer and a filled watering can from his Universe Pocket and handing it all to Frisk as he gave them a list of simple directions.

Thankfully, despite their lack of sleep and due to them already having the skills to garden, they were able to follow the list pretty easily, watering and tending to the flowers while the God watched from the distance at his throne, his dark eyes following them around the room, answering questions and making small comments every now and then.

The only real problems Frisk had were the sight of the shrine and having to work around it, finding its looming existence a bit… _intimidating,_ but they kept strong and did their best to avoid looking at it.

After what was probably an hour and a half, or what _felt_ like ten hours, they finally finished, walking over and finding a clear space nearby the God and sitting down on the ground, not even bothering to take off their gloves.

“So is this you being done?” Asriel asked.

“I hope so, I feel like I’m done, how’d I do?” they responded, letting out a long sigh and laying down against the hard ground, noticing it wasn’t as cool as they’d thought it would be.

“...You did an adequate job,” he commented and then shifted up from his seat, hovering high above them, “but there is no time for a nap, get back up,”

At that, Frisk was unable to hold back a soft whine “oh _c’mon,_ just let me rest _a little…that was a lot of hard work_ ,”

“You can _rest_ on the boat ride,” he assured, leaning down and plucking the gloves from their hands along with the other gear, stuffing it all back into the Universe Pocket as he spoke “I do not want to waste precious time if we are done here,”

Beginning to feel overwhelmed, Frisk looked up at him desperately “Asriel, I’m **_tired!_** Please, will you leave me alone for just _one second?!_ ”

The God stared at them sharply, his mouth closing with a snap, his eyes filled with intense perplexity.

With that, he said nothing more and turned away.

Frisk let out a heavy sigh, running their fingers through their bangs, turning their head to the side to gaze at the flowers up close for a moment, appreciating their hard work and imagining that they were larger than life, taller than tallest trees . . .

After a few more seconds, a large white disembodied hand came into their view and caught their attention, almost making them jump in surprise, in its fingers held a water bottle.

“You have three minutes, use them wisely,” they heard the God say.

Frisk slowly sat up, groaning quietly as their back protested, taking the water bottle and drinking a few good gulps, they thought about saying ‘thank you’ ...but wasn’t sure if they were completely in the mood to do so.

_Still, there was always the benefit of the doubt…_

“Thank you,” Frisk spoke up.

“...Don’t thank me,”

“Too bad mister, _I’m doing it anyway,_ ”

Soon time was up and Frisk was feeling a little more ready to move again, following Asriel out.

After going through and leaving the long golden hallway, he brought them to the nearby elevator, one of the many they’d passed but Asriel never seemed interested in using.

“Hey…how come we haven’t used the elevators yet? Wouldn’t that have been a little faster?” they questioned.

“Yes, about that, after I took control, I used my cosmic powers to make any elevator go anywhere I want in the Underground, most of them were already capable of going in impossible directions- but they still had limitations, and my addition pushed surpassed those limitations, the problem with it is that only _I_ have the power to control it now, come see,” he said and pressed the open button.

They walked in and Frisk immediately could see what he was talking about.

In a normal elevator, there would be a control panel with buttons to take you to your destination, this elevator looked almost normal, except for the place where the control panel would be, was instead a…blank square, deep, dark, black abyss- likely another tear in the fabric of reality.

“ _Ah…_. yup, I definitely see it now,” Frisk commented, curiously wondering what would happen if they stuck their finger inside.

“Yes, it seems you cannot use the elevators without me,” he said.

“Can’t you just reverse it?” they asked.

“I _could_ , but I don’t trust you to have complete free reign of the Underground just yet,” he explained, raising a hand to press an invisible button on the abyss panel.

As soon as he did that, a bizarre unearthly hum reverberated and bounced around inside the machine, as it did that, a faint nauseating feeling started up inside the pit of Frisk’s stomach, probably something akin to motion sickness, they automatically took a sip of their water.

Funnily enough, as soon as the bottle hit their lips, the doors opened, they winced in discomfort, unprepared for the heatwave that invaded the inside of the elevator.

“Ugghhhhh, _boy, I am not feeling this_ , **_**whew!**_** _We must be in Hotland…,_ ” they guessed with a grimace, breathing in the sudden burst of thick air, drinking a few more gulps of their water, the gross feeling in their stomach thankfully fading as fast as it had started.

“The entrance of Hotland to be exact,” he said and elegantly waved out his arm, politely showing them out.

They stepped out, walking for a few feet, and looked back, seeing that Asriel’s cosmic elevator truly worked as advertised, noticing that it had transported them to what looked to be an entirely different elevator altogether, the abbreviation ****‘L1**** ’ in big bold above the doors on the metal container.

Then they looked further up and saw the elevator went high up, confusing winding pathways awaiting ahead, the CORE looming further on, and behind that, they could see the Castle and the city that surrounded it, it was _so far away_.

It was one thing to see it all from above, but it was something else entirely to see it like this, Frisk wasn’t sure they’d ever stop being amazed by this place.

After admiring the sight, they turned their attention back to Asriel, who was impatiently floating on ahead, they quickly ran after him, joining his side.

“How come we didn’t just use the elevator yesterday?” they attempted to ask again, curious to know when Asriel seemed so interested in doing things the fast way.

“I thought it would have been best for you to get acquainted with the area from above, besides, you needed time to think and stew over your choice, there was no sense in skipping and rushing through delicate matters,” he explained.

Frisk raised their eyebrows in surprise “ _oh_ \- well, thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you,” they then grinned as they were reminded of the other kind things he’d done for them so far “another thing to add to your positive personality trait list,”

He sneered in return “disgusting, do me a favor and stop analyzing me,”

Frisk’s grin turned into a halfhearted smirk “you ‘analyzed’ me for _half my life_ , this seems only fair, don’t you think?

He stared at them for a second before he let out a huff and continued on, passing a large metal building, at the top, in black abyss colored words read-

**_**G O D O F H Y P E R D E A T H** _ **

“I’m guessing that’s your home you talked about?” they asked, their tone of voice mildly sarcastic.

“Correct. Stay away from it.” he said, his tone both sarcastic and stern.

Frisk held up their hands up in defense as they followed, “trust me, I’m not even remotely interested in being near it,”

“Good.”

“Yes, good, because I’m sure it’s filled with fantastical things that will continue to blow my mind into forever, I’m only not interested because I respect your personal space and request for privacy,”

“You’ve made your point, Frisk,”

“ _Good,_ ”

He lead them downhill, revealing the rest of the river, but more importantly revealed a very adorable wooden boat, the head of a cute dog carved into the front, serving as the bowsprit.

“Woooww, you were right when you said this was a special boat, I _love it_ ,” they commented in awe as they approached it.

“I had a feeling that you would,” he said, gliding on to it first, hesitating for a second before he held out a polite hand out to Frisk to help them on.

They gave him and his offering hand an odd quizzical look, but nevertheless took his hand and hop stepped aboard the boat.

“What’s the story about this one?” they asked with genuine curiosity.

“The story is.. that there was a mysterious cloaked creature called the River Person, they sailed this boat around and generously took people on rides to wherever they wanted, like the first Royal Scientist, not a lot was known of them, they _never_ shown their face to others and spoke strangely, sometimes even giving others helpful hints of things to come in the future,” he explained.

To no one’s surprise, Frisk found themselves in awe again, fascinated.

“That’s amazing… and..I couldn’t help but notice that you called them a ‘creature’ and not a monster, does that mean you don’t know what they were?” they asked.

“Yes, correct again, no one had any clue as to who or what they really were,” he then gave them a fake, terror-filled, suspenseful stare “there was even a terrifying rumor that they were secretly- _a human_ ,”

Frisk gaped as it slowly dawned on them that he was messing with them, scrunching up their face in scrutiny up at Asriel, who in return gave in and chuckled at them.

Still grinning in amusement, he turned his attention back to the front of the boat.

“Now, back to Waterfall shall we?” he chimed.

Then, Frisk did a double-take as they noticed the boat begin to rise, then suddenly _DASH_ across the riverbank, the water spraying behind in quick bursts.

Laughing in thrilled amazement, they quickly took the opportunity to look over, finding that the boat had four doggy-shaped legs and paws attached to the underneath of the boat.

They turned their attention back to Asriel, grinning “you know how I said I loved this boat?”

“Yes?”

“Well I changed my mind! I am _in love_ with this boat!”

He smirked, giving no comment, turning his attention to the destination ahead, the smile not quite leaving his face.

As they continued on across the water, Frisk found themselves in more of their usual musings since they’d arrived at the Underground, evaluating once again how they’d managed to get themselves here.

Their thoughts returned to back to the throne room, and they realized something that made them freeze up.

They had broken a rule, specifically rule five, they had to do whatever the God said… it was the second time they had done it too, he had told them to get up, but they had refused due to their exhaustion.

It had been a considerably good and fair reason to disobey, _but rules were rules after all…_

“What is it?” they suddenly heard Asriel speak up “I sense that you have some mixed feelings.”

A nervous smile appeared on Frisk’s face, looks like there wasn’t much room to hide things from him when he could feel their emotions.

“I broke one of your rules, um… back in the throne room, you told me to get up, but… I didn’t,”

He turned his head to smirk at them mischievously, “hm, you did do that, didn’t you?”

There was a moment of hesitation “. . . so, is there going to be a punishment…?” they asked.

His smile grew “I don’t know, _will there be one…?_ ”

And with that, he did not say anymore, leaving Frisk with anticipation.

After a while, trees blanketed in powdery white snow came to view on the horizon, the air becoming increasingly chillier as they approached and entered Snowdin.

They walked for a while, both silent as they made their way through the town and passed the buildings, Frisk taking the chance to properly admire the scenery without the feeling of fear or anxiety, the curiosity was very much still there though.

As they walked over the old bridge and skated through the small cluster of trees, Frisk was surprised when Asriel finally spoke up.

“So, as I know, you are an artist…,” he began, rather awkwardly.

“Yes…?”

“Well, one of the things I would you like to do for me is to paint pictures, perhaps you could paint the Snowdin forests? I could get you better supplies and find an easel so you could get a proper view,” he suggested.

Frisk looked up at him in pleasant surprise, finding that he was looking back, noticing a hopeful glint in his scarlet eyes.

They smile brightly, “of course! That would actually be really nice, thanks Asriel,”

He smiled back, nodding firmly… then crooked his brow, his smile shifting into something devious, “that will come later after your first punishment period is finished, there is something far less pleasant I have in mind for you first,”

Frisk’s smile dropped like bricks, “oh my gosh, _I should have known_ ,” they then winced warily “should I dare ask what you’re even 'concocting'?”

He gave them a firm pat on the shoulder, “don’t worry about that right now, save the little energy you have,”

Frisk shrugged his hand off, “can I at least worry about what’s happening after this? Will I be done? Can I get a nap in?”

The God’s expression softened slightly “..perhaps… how does a lunch break sound to you?” he asked.

“It sounds pretty good,” Frisk said, almost smiling but remembered that they’d be eating in front of Asriel…who wouldn’t be able to.

They then remembered T-Drop and their mistreatment, and all the guilt vanished.

“By the way, don’t forget, we still need to visit T-Drop,” they reminded the God.

His expression went sour, showing that he…very likely forgot all about that.  
“ _Very well_ ,”

Frisk rubbed at a stiff place behind their neck “do you happen to know what time it is?”

“It is…,” he then closed his eyes for a few seconds and reopened them “seven-thirty,”

They exhaled sharply, “ _geez, it still feels earlier than that_ ,” then they looked back up at the God, “how did you do that anyway? Did you just ‘know’ or…?”

He tapped at the side of his head “you could call it a ‘psychic thing’, I basically searched for the nearest accurate clock and I can see it in my mind, it is like I’m sending my vision from my body, it’s how I…,” he then paused, narrowed his brows, an uncomfortable expression on his face, rethinking his words “…find things that I want to see without actually doing it physically,”

But Frisk got the gist, “it’s how you ‘checked’ up on me.”

Asriel made a displeased sound “ _yes_ ,” he then stopping moving and gazed a Frisk “I know you still must think of me as some kind of creep for watching you so long, and you are right for feeling disturbed, I believe I would be too, but I _really_ never meant anything perverse of it,”

Frisk stared hard at his expression and into his eyes, silent for a moment, “…so.. you’re saying you feel guilty?”

His frown twisted deeper, this clearly wasn’t an easy conversation for him.

“…I.. do,” he then grit his sharp teeth, “I know I promised that I would never apologize, but, out of everything that I have done, I’ve been thinking and I've... come to realize that doing such a thing is.. _beneath me,_ ”

Frisk smiled gently “that’s right, you should have just introduced yourself to me in the first place, I bet we could have been friends a long time ago, and then you wouldn’t have been so lonely and resorting to spying on me,”

Asriel crossed his arms, he was still frowning but his gaze had softened “nonsense, the second you met me, you would have told everyone about me, eventually leading a nuclear war and ruining everything I worked so hard for.”

Frisk chuckled “nah, that’s ridiculous, I’m sure we would have been okay, you should already know by now that I’m great at keeping a secret,”

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

Frisk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “ _huh?_ ”

He turned away and quickly continue making his way to the Ruins, “you heard me, I’m not repeating myself, ever,”

Frisk jogged to catch up with him “I accept your apology Asriel, I forgive you,”

“Why? It’s not like I deserve it or have even properly earned it,”

Frisk smiled sadly, “ _maybe_ , but, with the way things are turning out, maybe you will,” then sighed, “I need to apologize too, I’ve been flirting with you when you clearly don’t like it,”

He scoffed “don’t apologize to me either, I don’t want it,”

Frisked sighed, “alright, I’ll respect it _, actions speak louder than words anyway,_ ”

After that, the two began traveling in silence once again.

As they walked through the ancient forest that stood before the Ruins, Frisk noticed they weren’t at all scared this time around...perhaps it was because they had someone with them.

….Or perhaps it was because they had someone with them that could be scarier than the forest ever could be.

As they entered the caves, the dim lighting and sudden warmth closed in around Frisk and soothed them, making their eyelids heavy, their sleepless night really taking its toll.

Halfway through, Frisk decided to break the silence.

“Hey, d’you want to try test warping on me?” they asked.

At that, Asriel made a quiet grumble and flicked his wrist, and in his hand appeared a glass mug filled with a dark brown liquid, the air around them suddenly smelling heavily of fresh coffee.

He handed it to them, Frisk’s mouth gaping open slightly in awe.

“Wow, this smells _so good_ ,” they complimented.

“I snagged it from a popular coffee shop in Taiwan,” he explained, unable to hide his smug expression.

Frisk looked up at him, their eyebrows raised up high, again they may have not condoned stealing, but clearly, they couldn’t deny that they were impressed.

Without another moment of hesitation, they turned their attention back to their well-traveled drink, taking a slow sip, making sure to savor the flavor.

It almost tasted just as fantastic as it smelled, and it was hot, but thankfully it didn’t scorch their tongue.

They gave Asriel a pleased smile, “I know you don’t want my thanks, but thank you anyway, this was very, very, nice,”

He rolled his eyes, smiling weakly, “I only did it so you don’t end up passing out on the flowers,”

Frisk chuckled, “well now I can promise that I won’t, I’ll also promise I’ll try to get more sleep, I don’t want you stealing anymore than you have to, somebody probably paid good money for this coffee y’know,”

“Actually, that coffee was about to go to a man who abuses his wife, I told you Frisk, I only steal from the worthless, don’t bother wasting your time feeling guilty over these things,” he said.

Frisk frowned, deciding to take another sip.

They then raised an eyebrow at their thoughts.

“How do you know he was abusive?”

“Mm, he’s a regular at the shop and sometimes he brings his wife, he whispers cruel things in her ear and tells her not to talk in public, I’m pretty sure they’re on their way to a brutal divorce, _at least I hope so,_ ” he explained.

Frisk let out a sad sigh, unsure what to say, so instead they took another but longer sip this time.

“Perhaps I can take you to the coffee shop later, I’ll make sure we go when the couple isn’t there,” he spoke up, the mood shifting between them.

Frisk swallowed and looked back up at him in sheer surprise, “ _really?_ ”

The God gave them a quick smile “of course, you aren’t completely trapped here, you can go anywhere on earth as long as I’m with you and invisible,”

Frisk grinned in delight at the idea, he _had_ mentioned showing them places and things, _hadn’t he?_

“That sounds fantastic, I’d love that,” they said happily.

He nodded, pleased, “I had hoped you would,”

Soon the coffee buzzed Frisk’s brain with new energy, returning some pep to their step.

Just in time too as they finally reached the garden, relieved at the sight as they remembered how much smaller this garden was in comparison to the one at the palace.

As the God gave them back all of their gear, his current frown deepened heavily.

“I want you to be even more generous with your care with this area,” he ordered.

Frisk looked up at him in slight confusion, “of course, any reason why?”

“It’s an important burial site,” he explained.

Frisk’s eyebrows shot up, their eyes flickering to the flowers and back up to Asriel in increasing worry.

“ _Calm down, this was put here long before I became a god_ ,” he grumbled under his breath, his eyes not quite meeting theirs, making it difficult to get a good read on him.

“ _Sorry_ …,” Frisk said gently, reflexively reached out to touch his arm and comfort him, then letting go after catching themselves, opting to put on the gardening gear instead.

“ _You have nothing to apologize for_ ,” he said with a sigh, crossing his legs into a sitting position and floating away, resting against the wall.

They fought at the urge to ask who the gravesite belonged to, but judging by Asriel’s shift in mood, they decided against it, they had asked too many questions already anyway, it was probably best to give it a rest before he dared to call them an interrogator.

Instead, they thought about other things, like how much they hoped this was all they had to do for today and how much more that they wanted a good power nap.

They also hoped that their aunt and cousin hadn’t figured out they were missing yet… they really needed to figure out a way to send a message that they were ok.

They also thought about what they were going to say to T-Drop, excited to see them smile.

Despite the poor treatment, they were curious to see the ghost and the God interact, maybe someday they’d be able to find to way to get Asriel to say sorry to T-Drop too . . . _the chances looked scarcely slim though.. ._

_…_

_. . . ._

_. . . ._

“Hello in there, are you finished?” they suddenly heard Asriel ask, effectively pulling Frisk out of their musings.

They blinked, realizing that they had been finished for a while and had been staring at the flowers, they looked over at the God, smiling sheepishly, “yeah, sorry, I guess my thoughts carried me off,”

He let out a sigh at that, “ _hm_ , perhaps you’re overdue for lunch,” he said, hovering over to them, “give me your things and we’ll go find a proper spot to eat,”

Frisk nodded and began slipping off the gear, handing it all back before getting back up, stretching their arms high above their head, thankful that they were finally finished.

They didn’t have to travel far, settling on the nearby entrance room with the two grand staircases overlooking the bed of red and orange leaves.

Taking a seat on the ground, letting their legs dangle off the short drop-off, Frisk watched in continuous wonder as the God again stuck his entire arm into the black hole as he searched for their lunch box.

They held back their laughter as he grumbled and proceeded to stick his head and half of his torso into the Universe pocket, his bottom and long legs hanging out.

“ _Ah-hah_ , _there it is…!_ ” they heard him say, his voice sounding far, far away from inside, he then popped out and levitated it over to Frisk, dropping it onto their lap.

“Thank you,” Frisk said, happily opening the box.

“ _Mmhm_ ,” he murmured, closing the pocket and hovering around until he was a few feet in front of Frisk, back in his sitting position.

“How big is your pocket anyway?” they asked before taking a big bite of their chicken sandwich.

“As big as it needs to be,” he said lazily, resting his head against his palm.

Frisk’s chewing slowed, looking up at Asriel, an amused and suggestive smile slowly growing on their face.

He stared back, confused at first, but as the seconds passed he got a good idea of why Frisk was suddenly feeling the way they were.

“ _Shut up_ ,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes and looking away.

Frisk giggled, “I didn’t say anything though,”

“I wasn’t talking about your mouth, I was talking about your _filthy_ emotions and your even _filthier_ brain,” he explained, annoyed.

Frisk flashed a sneaky grin at him, “y’know, there’s a difference from thinking it and actually saying it,” then took another bite.

He flashed them a devious expression, and without warning, he warped away, disappearing from view.

Frisk’s smile dropped, cautiously pausing to eye the room before deciding to continue eating, worried if they’d gotten on his nerves again, realizing it might have not been the wisest move to tease him.

They didn’t quite feel guilty about it, but it was probably for the best to apologize when he got back.

The minutes passed by, Frisk was coming close to finishing their lunch, beginning to wonder what their captor was up to. . .

It was then that their breath was stolen from them as a flood of ice-cold water splashed onto their entire body from overhead, seeping into their hair, clothes, and food.

Frisk screamed in shock, desperately wiping their eyes, it was then that they heard a roar of hearty laughter from the God.

They managed to get a good look at him from behind their water-logged bangs, noticing the large empty bucket in his hand, also realizing that this was the happiest he’d seen them yet since meeting him. 

They didn’t want to admit it, but his smile was becoming increasingly attractive and it was _truly unfair._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how long it'll take me, but the hiatus officially starts now.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the story so far, I'll be back with more.
> 
> Also, if you guessed correctly, Asriel turned Alphy's lab into his home, for many, many reasons I can't say just yet...


	8. Questions of The Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk deals with Asriel's 'punishment' and moodiness, and finally meets back up with T-Drop!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I have come here this evening to slip you guys a surprise chapter.
> 
> I can't say I'm finished with my hiatus yet, but I was hoping this will make up for my lack of speed.

**Inspiration Song:** You're Mine by Phantogram

_You don't talk to no one, don't you look at nothin'_  
 _Focus on me, look into my eyes_  
 _Come a little closer, let me tell you somethin'_  
 _Eat your ego, honey, swallow your pride_  
 _You don't talk to no one, don't you look at nothin'_  
 _Focus on me, look into my eyes_  
 _Come a little closer, let me tell you somethin'_  
 _You ain't going anywhere, 'cause you're mine_  
  
 _'Cause you're mine_  
 _'Cause you're mine_  
 _'Cause you're mine_  
  
 _I used to be a rifle, yeah I had my distance_  
 _Whistlin' like a bullet in the sky  
_ _I used to be a psycho, yeah I had my demons_  
 _Crawling like a spider up my spine_  
 _I spotted you the second I walked in the buildin'_  
 _I knew that you would let me get you high_  
 _I wanna hear the things you say when no one's listenin'_  
 _But that don't matter anyway, 'cause you're mine_  
  
  
 _'Cause you're mine_  
 _'Cause you're mine_  
 _'Cause you're mine_

_No one's gonna love you_   
_No one's gonna touch you_   
_No one's gonna look at you the way I do_   
_No one's gonna save you_   
_Build you up and break you_   
_I'm the one you pray to every night 'cause you're mine_   
  
  
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_   
_'Cause you're mine_

“Consider this a punishment Frisk!” The God of Hyperdeath laughed, absolutely pleased with himself after dumping gallons of ice-cold water on them.

In the midst of it all, they remembered what he had said again…

_‘I’d toss you into Snowdin anyway, something cold to slow down your thoughts’_

It seemed he hadn’t been joking as they had assumed, it was especially likely he’d gotten the water from the river there.

Frisk clenched their teeth together from the bracing cold, their hair completely soaked through and through, the last bit of their sandwich ruined, their thick jacket had halfway shielded them, all except for their leggings- cringing as they could feel the water seeping into their socks.

Overwhelmed with emotions, Frisk grinned wildly as they sprung to their feet, brushing their wet bangs from their eyes and quickly shrugged off their jacket and playfully flinging it at the God’s torso for some kind of attempt for revenge.

Instead, he reacted instantly, holding his hand up and _-_ ** _ **POOF**_** _-!_ warped away the jacket from sight.

He grinned back at them, pleased and still immensely amused, “you look like a drowned rat!”

They let out a trembling laugh as they shivered, pulling their hair tie out from their wilted ponytail “and you look like a big ol’ jerk!”

He chuckled lowly, “ _better to be a jerk than a rat_ ,”

Frisk’s smile dimmed, rolling their eyes, picking up the lunch box and handing it back to Asriel, “you ruined my lunch, y’know, but it’s okay… I was almost done anyway,”

Instead, the God pushed the box back with the palm of his hand, refusing to take it.

“I’ve decided I’ve been too nice today, so until we get back home, I’m through with helping you,”

Their smile completely disappeared at that, eyeing the box, clutching it a little tighter and letting out a shivery sigh.

“Fine, I’ve got two good hands anyway,” they said, then looked down at their wet clothes unhappily, deciding what they should do, they knew if they didn’t change into something dryer they would certainly freeze to death in Snowdin.

They could just be stubborn and tough it out… _but…_

“ _Hmph…_ _perhaps I spoke too soon_ , you won’t last a second once we get out of here,” they heard Asriel say.

They looked back up at him curiously.

With another flick of his wrist, a familiar piece of clothing appeared in his hand… it was the same robe that he’d forced them to wear last night.

Frisk crossed their arms defiantly, “no way, I _told you_ I’m not wearing that,”

“ ** **I’M NOT ASKING YOU TO WEAR IT**** ** _ **FOREVER**_** ** **, YOU MORON!**** ” he yelled, his voice echoing around the caves and his clawed fingers digging into the robe, threatening to rip holes into it.

Frisk’s eyebrows rose in surprise, “..ah…you mean just temporarily?”

He let out an exasperated sigh, “ _yes!_ Trust me, I would have picked something else, but choosing this seemed easier than going through your belongings,”

At that, Frisk hesitantly smiled and reached out with their free hand, taking the robe.

“Call me on your phone when you’re finished changing,” he said, and without another warning, warped out of the caves, the strange sound bouncing off the rocks.

Not wasting another second, Frisk happily kicked off their boots and _just_ as they were about to pull off their leggings, Asriel warped back in, surprising Frisk, causing them to let out a small shriek.

The God jumped slightly in alarm, “ _what?_ ”

“I’m trying to get _naked!_ Why are _you_ here?!” Frisk blurted out.

He held out Frisk’s cell phone in his hand, now showing visible hints of embarrassment.

“ _Oh…_ I’m sorry, I guess I forgot it,” they said, calming down some, taking the flip phone back, “ _wow, this is really awkward_ ,”

“Incredibly so **.** ” Asriel answered- not quite able to meet their gaze, warping away once again.

The tension passed as they finally slipped out of their wet clothes and slipped on the significantly warmer robe, no longer having any hang ups over the outfit- now that it wasn’t being forced upon them, Asriel probably was likely much happier about this situation though.

They wondered briefly if he had planned it all out, but as they corrected the long sleeves on their arms and eyed the embroidered rune on the chest, they decided that they weren’t going to overthink things this time.

They decided to text Asriel…

_‘I’m done, bu can you please bring me some clean socks??’-_

Deciding not to text back, the God simply warped back into sight with seconds, his own cell phone in his hand, a pleased smile appearing on his face when he got a good look at Frisk.

“Socks?” Frisk asked.

His smile widened ever so slightly and chuckled, “look down moron,”

Frisk did so, seeing that he had already popped socks onto their feet already, they chuckled in amusement, “ _thanks_ ,”

He shook his head dismissively, still smiling “whatever, just put your shoes back on so we can get this over with,”

A long silence came over the both of them again, it wasn’t until they got back into Snowdin and halfway to the village that Frisk thought of a question.

“So, other than me ‘representing’ you, is there any other… reason why you wanted me to wear this so badly?” they asked, fidgeting with the hood over their damp hair, rubbing it against the back of their head in an attempt to dry it off.

The God didn’t immediately answer, his eyes searching the horizon as he thought it over.

“...My parents used to wear similar ones like it, I felt that seeing something ‘nostalgic’ in my surroundings would have been... nice,”

Frisk bit their bottom lip, regret and guilt twisting in their stomach, “ _oh…_ I’m sorry, if I had known-,”

“Don’t apologize, it was a foolish idea, _I was in over my head yesterday_ ,” he grumbled.

“Too excited that you finally won me over?” Frisk half-joked gently, unsure if they should smile.

Asriel scoffed with humor, not confirming or denying.

They thoughtfully gazed at him for a moment, then back down at their robe.

“Did this belong to your mom?” they asked gently.

“I don’t know, I suppose it might have… I came across it in a storage room a few years ago.. and when you showed signs of coming to visit me, I decided I would make you wear it if I succeeded in making you stay somehow, so I hemmed it up to fit you a little better- oh and don’t get worked up, I don’t know your actual dress size, I was just guessing,”

Frisk nodded slowly, _“I see, well, you guessed pretty well,_ ” they smiled up at him curiously, “so, you sew?”

“My parents taught me, I know how to knit and crochet as well, if it’s a hobby that requires repetition I likely know how to do it,”

“Mm…that’s pretty nice, so, when you made your robe, did you intentionally mean to put the rips and tears into it?” they asked.

“Yes, why? Do you have a problem with it?” he asked, narrowing his eyebrows, he seemed ready to stand his guard, ready for any harsh critique thrown his way.

Frisk held up their hands defensibly, “ _no!_ Actually, I don’t, uh…well..maybe I would if you were someone else… but your black robe really suits you, you’re really rocking it, I really mean it,”

“Oh…,” he said, slightly surprised, a small smile appearing on his mug, “… _thanks?_ ”

Frisk smiled back, “you’re welcome,”

Soon, they found themselves back at the adorable dog boat, which was patiently waiting for them.

As Frisk stepped in and got comfortable, they raised an eyebrow in worry as Asriel grabbed the boat and gripped down fiercely, digging his claws deep into it.

“Are… you okay?” Frisk asked in concern, was he _angry…?_

The God looked up at them in slight confusion, his claws still stuck into the wood.

“Never better, I’m just fixing this boat to work on autopilot, so you can go where ever you want without me,”

“Wait… are you saying you’re leaving me by myself now?” they asked, unsure how they felt about this.

“It is very much what I’m saying, I’m not exactly in the mood to see the ghost again, so you’re going alone…I’m curious to see if you can find your way back as well,” he explained.

Frisk’s mouth opened to say something, but they were taken aback.

He then sharply moved his arms away, leaving a black abyss scratch marks into the wood, but he didn’t seem to visibly notice or care, he only grinned at Frisk teasingly.

“What’s with that face…? Are you trying to say that you’re going to _miss me? Hm?”_ he asked jokingly, expression sly as he leaned in.

Frisk grew flustered, shyly leaning back slightly, “ _er-_ not entirely, I just...I just was hoping… _that you’d…_ uh, talk to T-Drop, I think you should really apologize to them!”

At that, the God sarcastically laughed in their face, backing off and scowling, “I don’t think so, you ask too much of me,”

“Now, go, call me if you get lost or have another vapid question,” he said, then tapped the new scratch on the boat “when you want to go somewhere, just think of it and touch my mark,”

Frisk let out a sigh, then eyed the mark, curiously and gently touched their index finger on one of the scratches, deciding that they had no more to talk about, going ahead and testing the boat out…

‘ _I’d like to go to Waterfall, please’_ they thought.

They grinned in cheerful pride as the boat suddenly began to move forward, Asriel nodded at them with approval.

“Have fun hanging out with that miserable creature!” he called to them as the boat moved faster and they began to gain some distance.

“I already am!” they called back, then grinned big, “oh! You were talking about T-Drop, _my bad!”_

They laughed as they saw Asriel scowl so deeply it was almost comical.

As the boat began to dash off and away, Frisk calmed back down and a couple of minutes passed, they noticed something new on the carved dog’s face, it looked familiar… they got up to get a better look.

They found that it had black patch markings under its eyes, of which looked _exactly_ like the God’s face markings.

Finding it absolutely cute, Frisk brought out their phone and took a picture, proceeding to send it to Asriel, writing a message to go with it.

_'Look what happened! They’re your child now.’_ -

The God instantly replied with…

\- ‘ ** _ **NO**_** ** **.**** ’

Frisk giggled quietly to themselves, amused.

They guessed that the marking was very likely due to the magic scratches he had carved, they wondered if it was like how he ‘ _fixed’_ the elevators, was it him giving an object his powers…

Or was it like a territorial thing? If he marked anything with his signature ‘black abyss’, did it automatically belong to him?

Frisk touched their cheeks, specifically the area underneath their eyes, they guessed they should count themselves lucky for not getting a marking like that, although… it might have been an interesting look, maybe even kind of cool…

They shook their head, shoving the thought idea away into the garbage, they shouldn’t be glamorizing the God’s ‘ownership’ over them like that, their argument from last night drumming and echoing in a chant loudly inside their brain, telling them to ‘ _behave Frisk! Behave Frisk! Behave Frisk!_ ** _ **Behave Frisk!!**_** _’_

So, instead of… daydreaming, they emptied their mind and stared at the miraculous changing view around them, further familiarizing themselves.

Soon, they sighed in comfort as they felt the air become warm and slightly humid as they approached Waterfall.

As they stepped back onto ground and up over the hill, they looked around curiously, uncertain of which way to go…

There were two pathways on the left and right, and a hole in the wall straight ahead with a box nearby _(that was also likely jammed shut by Asriel.)_

An old faded and unreadable sign that was placed above the hole caught their attention, giving them the impression that maybe it was once a shop of some kind.

Since it was so close by, they decided to check it out real quick, proceeding to walk in, completely surprised when they found what looked to be a very sad music room.

The area filled with all sorts of random but all severely used instruments, one old wooden piano, a drum set with a missing ride cymbal, on one of the walls hung four different wooden guitars- one especially beat up, on the left was a table that sat a tambourine, a ukulele, a single maraca, a box of at least a hundred cheap recorder flutes.

Frisk walked in further, seeing even more used instruments, seeing at least three small pianos meant for young children, and as they craned their neck around, they saw more instruments hung higher and in better condition than the others, which were a saxophone, a banjo, a violin, and an electric guitar.

“ _So neat…_ ,” they murmured, taking a few seconds more to look around they decided to leave, they had a ghost to find.

“T-Drrrroooop? _Heeeellllooooo~?_ ” they called out, waiting for a moment to hear an answer.

When they didn’t get one, they decided to move along, taking a route and finding themselves in a spacious room with a pond in the middle, they noticed a sign nearby.

_'North: Blook Acres_

_East: Hotland_

_???: Temmie Village’_

“ _Cute names…_ ,” they mumbled, thinking things over, deciding where they should go first.

Something in their gut told them to go north, something about the words ‘Blook Acres’ just felt… _right._

With that, they walked on ahead, going up the first pathway… leading them to an empty gated area, well, it wasn’t completely empty, it was littered with random sports equipment, a basket full of balls, and a tall basketball hoop.

They moved along, studying the area until they finally noticed two identically tall odd shaped houses, one grey-blue, the other a faded red, the roofs appearing more as hats than actual roofs.

“ _Frisk…? Is that you?_ ” they heard a familiar voice say.

They grinned and turned around, throwing their arms in the air cheerfully as they saw T-Drop at the entrance.

“ _T-Drop!_ I’m so happy to see you!” they chirped, jogging over to them.

T-Drop perked up, a sweet and relieved smile appearing on their face, “i’m happy to see you too… i was so worried that i would never see you again…,”

Frisk let out a sigh, “I’m pretty certain that’s how Asriel would like to have it if he got everything his way,”

T-Drop was silent for a moment, confusion becoming clear on their face “… _ah_ …. _i’m sorry_ …. who is asriel?”

Frisk blinked, “oh, I guess it makes sense that he never told you… Asriel is the God’s real name,”

_“oh..I see_ …..is it ok if i asked what happened?…… _.did.. he hurt you?_ ” T-Drop asked with concern.

Frisk shook their head, “no, but he _has_ been a giant jerk, but don’t worry, I can handle it,” they then smiled gently “…on the other hand, he _does_ havehis nice moments, he can be tolerable but I’m still keeping my guard up,”

T-Drop motioned to Frisk’s torso, “…you’re wearing his outfit…. does that mean you’re… _staying?_ ”

Frisk’s smile grew tight, staring hard at the rune at their chest “ _yeah_ , yeah it does… I’m here until he decides he’s bored of me or he somehow breaks one of the rules in our deal,” they let out another sigh, “and…if I accidentally break one of the rules, _then I guess I’m here forever,_ ”

It felt… harshly difficult telling T-Drop all of this, they knew it would be even more difficult telling them that they had traded their freedom for theirs.

But they didn’t have to do that just yet.

So they brightened their smile back up “but don’t worry about me, I came to tell you the good news! Asriel decided to free you! You’re free to go _anywhere_ in the mountain now, isn’t that great?”

T-Drop’s eyes widened, “ _really?_ ”

Frisk chuckled warmly “yup! You can even visit me up at the palace where I’m staying at now, Asriel was surprisingly thoughtful and moved all my stuff from my old place there, it’s actually kind of relaxing…,”

The ghost smiled, “ _wow…. that’s amazing…_ the god did some nice stuff for me too,” they then motioned to all of the sports equipment “he brought me all these things so we could do stuff and keep me from being bored…. _but then we both realized we aren’t really into sports_ …so…he gave up and I started collecting instruments instead at the garbage dump,”

“I saw it, that’s a pretty impressive collection you have,” they then cocked their head curiously, “you have a _garbage dump_ down here?”

“ _mmhm_ … it flows from the upper world, sometimes… interesting things fall down…,” their smile then returned “… _umm…hey_ … I don’t mean to be weird or anything…. _but…_. do you want to come over to my house? it’s right over there, you don’t have to.. if you don’t want to…,”

T-Drop then motioned to the two houses.

Frisk looked and laughed at themselves, “oh, I was right in the neighborhood and had no idea! That’s pretty cool, which one is yours?”

“the gray one, it’s….nothing impressive though,” they answered, then floated on ahead with Frisk following along behind.

“Nah, I think it looks pretty neat if you ask me, can’t say I’ve ever seen a house like it above ground,”

As they entered, they would never admit it, but they were slightly disappointed to find that the house was smaller on the inside and only consisted of a fridge, an old TV, and maybe an even older computer, three music players, and a pair of thick black headphones.

But despite there not being much, it wasn’t horrible, at least the ghost had a place to call home at all, and as they thought about it, actually found that it was surprisingly cozy and warm.

“This is nice…,” Frisk complimented carefully “but…don’t you have a bedroom?”

“...oh…i do, it’s just…above.. on the third floor…which i guess you can’t get to, can you? i don’t have any stairs, _i’m sorry,_ ”

Frisk looked up at the ceiling in surprised awe “no stairs…?” and then they fully realized _“oh!_ _Wow_ , I see now! That’s actually really amazing and thoughtful building planning, _a house just for a ghost,”_

T-Drop smiled, looking flattered, they then hesitated for a second, looking as if they had something to say, but weren’t sure of it.

“What’s wrong?” Frisk asked.

“... _i… uh_ …yesterday something……big… _happened_ …,” they finally spoke up.

Frisk smiled tiredly “I can relate big time with that, so, what happened with you? _Other than, y’know, meeting me?_ ”

“...it’s just…I’m not sure if i should say… _i’m afraid the god will find out somehow…_ ,” they said, looking rather anxious.

“Don’t worry, you can trust me to keep a secret,” Frisk said, giving their heart a stern pat, “…and, if he does somehow ending up finding out anyway, I can promise you that he won’t hurt you, you’re safe,”

T-Drop raised their brows at that, the uncertainty on their expression easing up.

“... _well…i…I don’t know how to say this_ …but..i… remembered my real name yesterday, it’s _napstablook_ ,”

Frisk’s mouth gaped open in a excited surprise, “oh my goodness! That’s _amazing_ , that’s also actually a really cool name, did you happen to remember anything else?”

Napstablook’s smile twisted, as if they were unsure how to feel, “no, just my name and my nickname, you can call me blooky… _if you want_ ,”

“Mm, I like Blooky, it fits,” Frisk said, “hopefully you’ll remember more as time goes on,”

Blooky smiled sadly “... _hopefully_ ,”

Frisk remembered the name on the sign, they guessed Napstablook, or at least their family owned the land.

They wondered if their freedom had anything to do with their memory renewal…

They then realized something…

“Do you think Asriel ever knew your real name?” Frisk asked.

“...i don’t know… why would he keep that a secret from me? i always had a feeling that we never met until he became a god,”

Frisk tapped their fingers on their chin thoughtfully “…hm…it really does seem like he has a hundred and more secrets wrapped up inside of him, but I got to admit.. _I’m a little scared of what I’ll find._ ”

“i think i know what you mean… maybe we could listen to music? it… always makes me feel a little better…,” Blooky suggested.

“Me too, speaking of which… didn’t you say something about making your own stuff? I’m really curious to hear what you made,” Frisk asked curiously, giving them a hopeful smile.

Blooky was again hesitant to speak, their emotional wide eyes gazing at Frisk in pleasant astonishment.

Frisk smiled gently “Blooky? Are you okay?”

At that, tears began falling, “… _oh…i’m fine… i’ve…just never been asked that before…_ ,”

A pang pulled at Frisk’s chest and they sniffled, blinking as they felt their own tears, they raised their arms, “is it alright if I hug you?”

More tears fell from Blooky’s eyes with ease like raindrops, “ _i… don’t know if you can…you might go right through me…_ ,”

“We’ll make it work,” Frisk promised, and with that, stepped forward and carefully wrapped their arms around their friend, whom they couldn’t quite feel physically, but there was a definitive sharp cold spot that Blooky emanated, Frisk closed their eyes and focused on that coldness.

Together, they both shared a good cry, Frisk fully realizing just how immensely lonely and miserable it must have been for Blooky and Asriel to be all alone in the mountain, and how the two dealt with it in their own ways.

“ _You don’t have to be by yourself anymore_ ,” Frisk said to Blooky between sniffles.

“ _thank you_ ,”

After a little while longer and a few more tears, the friends pulled apart.

“So, what do you have to show me?” Frisk asked, giving Blooky a strong smile.

Blooky chuckled quietly and turned their attention to the three music players, “… _see for yourself_ ,”

Frisk went over to one and started it up, ultimately pleased with the spooky tunes, talking to Blooky for their thoughts and opinions about each song, together they listened to the music, simply chilling out.

After thirty minutes, Blooky spoke up.

“are you hungry?” they asked.

“No thanks, I ate earlier, well, I…didn’t get to eat all of it, but it was pretty good,” Frisk answered.

“...oh…after a great meal, i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage…,” Blooky began, “do you want… to join me…?”

Frisk smiled curiously, holding back a chuckle, “sure,”

“okay… follow my lead,” they said, then hovered to the middle of the floor, and laid flat down on their back.

On the opposite side, Frisk did just as they did, glad to lay back after a long day.

“here we go…,”

Frisk drew in a long and slow breath. . .

_Closed their eyes…_

_And steadily let it all out.. . .effectively calming themselves . . ._

They began to think of peaceful thoughts, but, without their permission or even noticing, their brain decided it seemed like it was an appropriate time to temporarily shut down. . .

. . .

At some point, Frisk was stirred half awake as they felt someone touch their shoulder.

“ _Mm._.,” they murmured.

“Wake up Frisk, it’s nine PM, you fell asleep because _this_ _wet blanket_ didn’t think to wake you up,” they heard Asriel say, sounding quite annoyed.

Nine PM? _Oof…_

At that, Frisk cracked open their eyes, looking to see Asriel crouched down next to them, his red piercing eyes watching them closely.

“sorry frisk, i didn’t want to bother you… ,” they heard Blooky say.

At that, Asriel grew annoyed… and did something that made Frisk jerk back in shock- he turned his _head around 180 degrees_ to look directly at Blooky, showing more proof that his body was likely not connected by joints or maybe even bones . . . _what was inside of him?_

“Do you not think you are bothering them _now?_ ** _ **How about you do something smart for a change and go be a nuisance somewhere else?**_** _”_ he hissed.

Forgetting their surprise, Frisk sat up, reached in and poked at Asriel’s temple, “hey, be nice! That’s my friend you’re talking to!”

Asriel righted his head back around to give Frisk a perplexed stare, “ _did you just touch my head?_ ”

At that remark, Frisk unconsciously hid their hand, “……. _maybe?_ Why?”

He paused… opening his mouth to say something, but closed it for a moment, apparently changing his mind.

“...Never mind…forget it,” he said then got up, lending Frisk a hand to help them up, “let’s go home, I’m certain you’d prefer to sleep on a proper bed rather than a creaky dusty floor,”

“Aw, it wasn’t that bad,” Frisk said, taking Asriel’s hand and getting back to their feet, they then walked over to Blooky, “it was really nice talking to you today, sorry for passing out,”

“...it’s... okay…i thought it was nice too… the talk, i mean,” Blooky replied shyly.

Frisk gave them a warm smile and leaned in to give them one last hug, hoping that Asriel was watching, feeling that he could use a good example of how to treat a person.

“Let’s hang out again soon, okay?” Frisk said.

“...okay…that sounds good,”

With that, Frisk finished their goodbyes and stepped out the door, with Asriel immediately following in suit as he warped nearby.

“It was nice of you to come and check up on me,” Frisk said, pulling their hood down and running their fingers through their now dry hair, finding a couple of small tangles.

“It means nothing, I was just perplexed why you would bother spending so much time with someone so dull,” Asriel said, floating over.

Frisk shook their head in displeasure, “they’re not dull at all, they’re really sweet, funny, _and_ they make really cool music, _and_ even have an instrument collection! I think they’re _amazing_ ,”

Asriel let out a cranky sigh, not bothering to say anything more on the matter, following alongside Frisk as they began walking back to the boat.

“Do you have any musical talents?” Frisk asked.

“Why do you want to know? It’s not like I would ever play anything for you,”

“I’m just curious, besides, I’m pretty sure you’re not going knit me a scarf, but you told me you do that sort of thing anyway,” Frisk responded with a shrug.

“Yes, but I told you that of my own volition,”

Frisk chuckled quietly, “alright, I’ll just wait until you feel like telling me then,”

Nothing much was said after that, skipping Hotland once again on their way back to the Palace.

As soon as Frisk their new home, they made a beeline to the kitchen, find themselves hungry from the walk, it was time for dinner.

They noticed this time around as the God watched, his curious gaze following them back and forth as they pulled out a bowl of leftover chicken coconut soup, getting it ready to pop into the microwave, it was from their favorite Thai restaurant that wasn’t too far from their old apartment.

_“Ah, yes, that’s very good,_ ” they heard Asriel mumbled.

Frisk looked over their shoulder at him, giving him a cheeky smile “you like tom kha gai too?”

He looked away, looking slightly embarrassed, “yes, I actually do…,”

Frisk then paused, then glared suspiciously “you haven’t been stealing food from Mrs. Sensit, have you?”

Asriel rolled his eyes “only once, after that I started making my own recipe…I can find fresher ingredients anyway,”

“Hm, maybe after our punishments are over, maybe you can make some for me, I’d like a test taste,” they said, pressing a few buttons on the microwave and leaning against the counter.

“So, what do have planned for me tomorrow?” they dared ask.

Asriel smirked, “other than more gardening, I’d rather not spoil the surprise,”

Frisk let out an amused yet tired sigh, “of course, I don’t why I bother to keep asking you stuff like that,” they then thought of Blooky, “by the way, I hope you don’t mind if T-Drop visits every now and then, do you? I told them they could visit,”

Asriel’s smirk withered, “I do mind actually, I’d rather not spend my time with that pathetic cry baby any more than I have to,”

Frisk pouted, “that’s a shame,” they then turned back to the microwave, pressing the clear button before it finished its countdown, “guess I’ll have to hang out with them without you then,”

“Hmph… it’s nearly ten… perhaps I should go,” he grumbled.

Frisk turned back around, feeling slightly disappointed “oh, you don’t have to leave just yet, I’ve got to admit, as rude as you are, I kind of like talking to you,”

Asriel didn’t meet their gaze “seems like you enjoy talking to the ghost more,”

Frisk fake gasped, deciding to tease him “ _whoa_ … Mr. Hyperdeath, are you…… _jealous?_ ”

Asriel scoffed, then laughed, “me? Jealous? That has got to be THE most ridiculous things I have ever been accused of!”

Frisk let out a giggle “alright, alright, never mind, you’re right anyway, you’ve got no reason to be jealous, T-Drop _may_ be more reasonable and sweeter than you, but I can’t deny that you have something that I feel they don’t,”

The God cocked his head curiously, “… _and that would be…?_ ”

Frisk smiled slyly, “why do you want to know?” they answered, echoing Asriel’s words from earlier.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, “never mind all of this nonsense, I will see you at five AM sharp, goodnight.” he said, and with that, warped away.

The answer Frisk was hiding was ‘ _sex appeal_ ’, sure Blooky was attractive in their own way, but to Frisk, if Asriel had claimed he was Himeros, ‘god of sexual desire and unrequited love’, they would have believed him through and through.

They winced at their thoughts, forcibly pushing them away.

They turned back to their soup, got it ready, and delivered it to their room, and… as they settled down, they remembered the collection of movies that they had stacked away, getting back up to pick a particular romance comedy out, sticking the disc into their laptop, very pleased with themselves as it began playing, happy that they remembered this loophole in the God’s punishment.

After the dinner, movie, and a quick hot shower, Frisk pulled on an old shirt and new underwear, slid back into their bed and dropped right off to sleep with ease…

At some point during the night, they heard their door click open…and then slowly and quietly… close.

They could tell someone was in there with them, they tried to get a good look at the intruder, but it was too dark, the room pitch black.

But then they focused harder…

And saw it, glowing piercing red eyes… _locked right onto them._

For a moment, he didn’t move and neither did Frisk, they didn’t know what to do, the anticipation building up inside their chest, hardly any room for their breath.

Their heart nearly stopped as he floated over closer to their bed, watching on edge as he got closer and closer, until he decided to sit on the edge of the bed right next to them.

They stared breathlessly as he lifted his hand and caressed their cheek, his claws carefully brushing back their hair behind their ear.

His hand, smooth and surprisingly warm, lingered there for a moment until, slowly… it lowered, until it carefully and gently grasped the entirety of their neck, they _knew_ he could feel their racing heartbeat through their veins…

_Why weren’t they scared…?_

_They should have been scared. . ._

Instead… their heart.. fluttered inside of their chest as he leaned his head in, brushing his soft cheek against theirs, pushing his muzzle into the nook of their neck, proceeding closer and closer until his mouth pressed against their ear.

A memory washed up onto the shores of their mind… remembering what they told him about their sensitive ears, causing their heart to flutter harder until it nearly got caught in their throat at the realization of what he might have been trying to accomplish right now…

“Play with me all you want, but don’t you _ever_ forget Frisk… you’re.. ****mine…**** ,” he uttered lowly, his husky voice reverberating into their body, sending the familiar pleasant shiver down their spine, catching their breath in their throat and tightening their legs together, feeling almost paralyzed underneath him.

He then slowly removed his hand from their throat, gliding his claws up across their cheek, and ran his fingers through their bangs and hair, affectionately petting them for a moment as he continued to rest his face into their neck.

The action quickly became less sexual and more tender…and possibly even sweet as he stayed there.

Hesitantly, Frisk blindly reached up to touch him back, hold him if they could.

But as soon as their fingers touched down onto his arm, he flinched and warped away.

Frisk sat up, startled, quickly switching on their nearby lamp, finding themselves completely alone in their room at three forty in the morning, catching their breath.

_Had_ … had that been a dream… _?_

It had felt so real…

As their breathing slowed down, cautiously, they laid back into their bed, staring blankly at the lamp as they ran their fingers through their bangs just as he had… their body still affected by what had just happened… real or not, it had affected them, they certainly couldn’t deny that.

They then remembered everything horrible that Asriel had done, and pulled their fingers from their hair and rolled over onto their side, frustrated and angry with themselves.

It was crystal clear now, that they were beginning to feel something for Asriel, they couldn’t deny the stirrings in their heart.

Deep down when they first saw him, they knew it was inevitable that they were going to end up liking him no matter what he did, and it was truly and absolutely, no _fair._

They were never going to get him out of their head, were they?


	9. Among The Growing Embers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk has a long day as they continuously wonder about the truth of the possible dream they had, see new views, hastily explore a nearly impossible puzzle, behold more of Asriel's powers at work, and later... finally find time to themselves. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I thought I'd make another surprise update to show my thanks, it only seemed right.
> 
> Also, I'm going to answer some comments that you guys left in the last chapter.
> 
> To kz3838: Thanks, and I wouldn't worry too much, he's pretty awful, but he isn't going to do anything that'll traumatize or scar Frisk- I can tell you here that this won't be that kind of fic.
> 
> Sammy_Pines: Thank you I will!
> 
> Feiterry: Thanks!! I'd say something about the 'dream', but I don't want to spoil anything! As for the Growing Pains sequel, it's still steadily coming along and I'm going to finish it before I release it to you guys, unfortunately it's taking me longer than I wanted it to, but it's going to get here eventually! Even though this fic isn't for everyone, I like to think it helps make up for the wait.
> 
> CatsCat111: Here you go dear ♡✨
> 
> Artritane: It's a good theory. Yet, it's likely that he knows that Frisk recognizes his warping sound now and would know it was him, dream or no dream, it's clear the guy is having some kind of moment of weakness and wasn't thinking straight.
> 
> Jjuunhyhnhyy: Even if it's a joke, it's true and should be said again. 
> 
> I'm really happy you guys are enjoying it so far.
> 
> ALSO, heads up! The content ahead is all over the place and things are going to start getting heavy, which I assume you guys signed up for, but there's some violence too (not caused by Asriel btw), so please take care and I hope you like this one.

**Inspiration Song:** Can't Get You Out Of My Head by J2 (ft. Sara Phillips)

_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, your lovin' is all I think about_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, it's more than I dare to think about_   
  
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, your loving is all I think about_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, it's more than I dare to think about_   
  
_Every night, every day_   
_Just to be there in your arms_   
  
_Won't you stay?_   
_Won't you lay?_   
_Stay forever and ever and ever and ever_   
  
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, your lovin' is all I think about_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_Boy, it's more than I dare to think about_   
  
_There's a dark secret in me_   
_Don't leave me locked in your heart_   
  
_Set me free_   
_Feel the need in me_   
_Set me free_   
_Stay forever and ever and ever and ever_   
  
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_   
_I just can't get you out of my head_

The next morning, waking up was fairly easier, getting up and ready in less than an hour, all because Frisk had a single question for the God of Hyperdeath and they _demanded_ an answer.

But... as they stepped into the living room, and saw him sitting in the chair, staring down at his cell phone with his... red eyes… remembering his piercing stare and the feeling of his lips against their ear, Frisk began losing steam, slowing down as they approached him.

They then jumped as he spoke.

“What are you staring at? Go start breakfast,” he said, not looking up from his phone.

Frisk bit their bottom lip and hurried along past him into the kitchen, opening the fridge door and scooping out a couple of eggs, bacon and cheese, starting up what would end up becoming a breakfast sandwich.

As they worked, they noted Asriel in the background behind them, staying in his bubble this time as he watched the magic of food creation.

But as the minutes passed... the pressure and the steam returned, and as soon as they cut their sandwich into two, they turned around to find that he'd broken free from his bubble and they were now facing him up close.

They felt significantly smaller than usual.

“I have a question, and I want you to answer me honestly,” they blurted out.

Asriel crossed his arms, “whatever it is, the answer is ‘no’,”

“Did you come into my room late last night?” they asked anyway.

He raised a skeptical brow at them “no, it sounds like a dream, _I’m certain you know what those are_ ,”

Frisk pursed their lips together tightly, not sure if they believed him- because _never_ had they ever experienced a dream _that real_ before.

His answer was also _exactly_ what they would expect someone to say if they regretted doing such a thing.

“Alright, fine,” Frisk said, grabbing out a jug of cranberry juice and pouring it into a cup, “I was just checking, it's just... I can’t say that… I’ve ever had a dream like it before,”

“Is that so? Well, I wouldn’t worry about it much longer, today I have something planned for you that’ll make you forget all about your weird dream,” he announced.

Frisk eyed him carefully as they brought their food over to the table, they never said anything about it being ‘weird’, they considered pressing on. . . decided to put this conversation to rest for now.

The God warped into a seat at the table, his fingers interlocked as he watched them get ready.

“So, what’s for the agenda today? …Or is it staying a surprise until it’s time?” they asked, sitting down.

He tapped his claws on the table thoughtfully, thinking over his answer, “you are going to Hotland, I want to see if you can clear some puzzles I’ve built there,”

At the mention, Frisk couldn't help but recollect over their first meeting.

“You mean the ‘intense, difficult’ puzzles…?” they asked warily.

He grinned deviously, “yes, those kind exactly, I’m glad you remembered,”

They away and took a big bite of their sandwich, chewing slowly, ruminating on how they felt about it and decided… while they weren’t thrilled about the sweltering heat, they liked the idea of solving a big puzzle, they also found themselves fairly excited to finally get to see Hotland.

But a question popped up to the forefront of their mind.

“Will it be dangerous?” they asked.

He rested head under his palm, “it eventually will be, because in my opinion, the best kind of puzzles include adrenaline, but you have truly nothing to worry about, it’s not like I’m going to let you die or anything obtuse like that,”

Frisk took a long sip of their juice and took another big bite before speaking again...

“What if I decide I don’t like these puzzles?” they asked, frowning.

He shrugged “then I will simply find other tasks for you, but I wouldn’t be so quick to judge, I have a feeling you’ll come to enjoy what I have in store for you,”

Frisk let out a small sigh, “ _sounds like I should start getting back into exercising again_ ,” and with that, finished up the rest of their breakfast.

After cleaning up, they went back to their room to redress for Hotland _(shorts and a tank top seemed ideal),_ their family returned to their mind, what was this… the third day? They wondered if their aunt had called them any… they really did have to find some way to contact her… perhaps they could beg Asriel to take them to the surface for a moment to make a phone call. . .

_No…_ they were sure at this point he would never allow something like that, perhaps they’d just have to settle for waiting for him to turn the internet back on.

Soon, before they knew it, the two of them made their way to the throne room and Frisk began gardening, not having to do too much this time except give the flowers a good watering.

“You have been uncharacteristically quiet this morning, what’s the problem?” they heard Asriel ask from his throne.

“There’s… just a lot of things on my mind, so many things that have happened to me in the past few days, I guess it’s just starting to settle now,” they admitted.

“ _Mm, understandable..._ let it settle then,” he replied, “…do you need anything?”

Frisk turned to look over at him curiously, ‘ _the truth about last night_ ’ ‘ _a call to their aunt’ ‘a hug’ ‘the internet’ ‘to not be gardening’ ‘for him to apologize to Blooky’ ‘more sleep’_ they thought all at once, but dismissed it all.

“I guess you can give me some water,” they said instead.

With that, a water bottle appeared in his hand and the hand itself detached from his body and hovered over to Frisk, to which they took.

“Thank you,” they said quietly and began sipping at it as they finished with the garden.

After that, they made their way down the elevator and to the boat, across the river and their walk through Snowdin, not talking much, Frisk soon realizing that they found comfort in the silence as they traveled together.

As Frisk zipped up their jacket, and absent-mindedly rubbed at their cold bare legs, they thought of a new question.

“So, when are you going to start letting me walk alone?” they asked.

“Hm, depends, do you think you’ve gotten all of this memorized yet?”

They grinned shyly up at him, “not completely, but I’m close, it all seems to be a straight forward path once I start thinking about it,” they then shoved their hands into their pockets “don’t get me wrong, I like walking with you, I was just asking because you’ve made it seem like you wanted me to walk by myself,”

Asriel nodded “that _was_ true, but I’ve found that I’ve changed my mind on the situation, it’s not like I have anything better to do anyway,”

Frisk grinned a little wider, pleased with the answer.

Soon enough, they were back in the Ruins, and the further they got, the more Frisk thought about their family, their already wavering mood taking a turn for the worse.

“Hmph, what’s the problem now?” they heard Asriel ask.

“ _Nothing_ ,” Frisk answered with a sigh.

They were forcibly halted as Asriel floated in front of them, “it seems like it isn’t, I demand you tell me what is bother you, this _instant,_ ”

Frisk crossed their arms “it doesn’t matter, you’re just going to say no like you always do,"

He mimicked, crossing his arms back at them “try me,”

“Well…as you know, I want to make a call to my aunt, and _I was kind of thinking_ … that maybe after I finish watering the flowers, you could fly me back outside through the hole for a second so I can tell her a cover-up story? I really don’t want her freaking out over me,” they asked.

Asriel gaze turned thoughtful, “hm… yes… now that I think about it, the last thing we need is a missing person’s report out for you,”

Frisk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise “so…you’ll let me talk to her?”

He nodded, smirking “yes, why not,”

Frisk grinned brightly, holding their hand up to him “ _yeah!_ Thanks so much Asriel! Hive five!”

To their further surprise, he complied, raising his hand back to high five them, but just as they were about to touch, he swished his hand away, making them miss on purpose.

“Too slow,” he teased, snickering at how Frisk gaped.

Frisk pretended to be annoyed, distracting Asriel just enough to grab his wrist and hastily clap their hand to his large one, getting their high five anyway.

He scoffed in amusement, eyeing his hand momentarily before they moved on.

“Speaking of ‘ _talking_ ’…,” he spoke up, “am I to assume you want to make a visit to the ghost again today?”

Frisk looked up at him, gazing carefully, “I don’t know, you were kind of weird about it yesterday, maybe I’ll save it for tomorrow or later,”

He rolled his eyes, “you wouldn’t know what ‘weird’ was if it ripped your entire face off,” he then clicked his tongue, “but I digress, you have made a good choice,”

Frisk looked away, running a hand their hand through their bangs, feeling unsure “ _I hope so_ ,”

Once they entered the burial room, Asriel quieted down again, as they suspected he would… they began to further wonder if he knew who the person who died, but didn’t seem like the proper time to ask something that personal yet, nor was it the right mood.

As they began thinking about the call, they found themselves working harder, finishing up faster than they had yesterday…

Leaning over, watering the last section of flowers, Frisk suddenly felt him grab their torso from behind, surprising them, and as if like a trigger, they automatically straightened up, finding themselves pressing their back against him- just _almost_ grinding against him in the process.

At the free space, his other hand came around to clumsily touch their lower abdomen before moving to their waist, the action causing their heart to jump into their throat.

Frisk let out a small squeak as he pulled them closer.

And at the corner of their eyes, they saw flashes of bright colors, it brightened the room like the sun through rainbow stained glass- it was his great wings coming to fruition once again.

Instinctively they grabbed at his robed arms tightly for support, gasping in amazement as he begun to lift off from off the ground and shoot upward to the hole high into the ceiling of the mountain…

Higher and higher they flew with great speed, leaving Frisk breathless as they finally shot out of Mt. Ebott and into the great blue sky, the combination of fresh air, lack of ground, limiting altitude, and Asriel’s touch leaving them increasingly dizzy and dazzled.

For a moment, it felt like they could almost see the whole world as they got an excellent and never-before view of their home town, gazing at the countless buildings, trees, and houses, and the mysterious horizon beyond.

Frisk laughed as Asriel dared to fly even higher, doing an elegant twirl as he zoomed back down to the ground.

As soon they returned and he let go, Frisk sat on the grass and collapsed, giggling breathlessly.

Above, Asriel gazed down at them, smiling smugly, letting out a pleased hum.

“ _Oh man, my heart is beating so fast, that was so much fun_ …,” Frisk commented, touching their hand to their chest, feeling how it drummed away inside them.

They watched as he lowered himself down next to them, sitting down but still floating so he wasn’t touching the grass.

They grinned at him, “it was better than a _roller coaster_ , I wanna do that more often,”

Frisk wondered what else amazing thing he had hidden under his long ragged sleeves, looking away shyly as their thoughts wandered south, thinking about how he had grabbed them… _he was definitely a roller coaster they would want to try to ride…_

They were then snapped out of it as Asriel very loudly cleared his throat.

“Don’t you have something important to do?” he asked, looking away from them, making it impossible to read him.

Frisk sat up with a start, “I have to call my aunt!” they exclaimed, embarrassed that they nearly forgotten, then paused, staring at nothing in further embarrassment as they realized that their regular phone was all the way back in their room.

They then jerked back in surprise as they saw their original phone right in front of them in Asriel’s hand.

“I figured you wouldn’t have it on you,” he said, eyeing them.

They smiled at him politely, “thank you,” they said and took the phone and turning it on, they then eyed him back carefully “ _can you read my mind?_ ”

“No… but I have the ability, which…I don’t exercise anyway, I find it stressful and headache-inducing to hear both mine and another person’s thoughts in my head,” he explained.

Frisk nodded slowly, taking the new information in, they were impressed but not completely as surprised this time, by now something like ‘reading minds’ only made sense for Asriel.

They stared down at their phone with bated breath as it went through the process of booting up.

“That makes sense, it would probably stress me out too,”

They then let out a sigh of relief as they saw that no one had called them, just a few random texts from their friends and their cousin, none of them alarming.

Frisk found themselves clearing their throat as they waited for their aunt to pick up.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Auntie Ligaya! How is everything?”

“ _Everything is going great, the Goats just won the big game and I just got home from the celebration_ ,”

“Heck _yeah!_ That’s awesome news! I’ve… got some awesome news myself, but…I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it, are you sitting down?”

“... _Oh my god…you’re pregnant, aren’t you?_ ”

Frisk laughed sharply, “nO aUNTIe! I’m definitely not pregnant, you know I’m not dating anyone right now!”

“ _Mm, mmm… mmm… oh! You got a new, better paying job?_ ”

Frisk clicked their tongue, eyeing Asriel over their shoulder, “not exactly,” they then let out a small sigh, “I finally decided to go cross country traveling like I always talked about,”

There was a sharp gasp from their aunt “ _oohhh, Frisk,_ _are you sure you can handle it? Do you have enough money?_ ”

“I’m fine, there were some bumps in the road, both…literally and figuratively, heh, but um… so far everything is going okay, I have it all under control,”

“ _I see… well,_ don’t _forget to keep doing the little things, like taking care of yourself and having a proper meal,_ ”

“I will, I promise,”

“ _Have you told Andres yet?”_

Frisk chuckled shyly “I was… _kind of hoping you would tell him for me?”_

“ _Frisk._ ”

“Okay, fine, fine, I’ll call him,”

The two talked a little longer, before finally hanging up.

Frisk then dialed for their cousin, letting out a sigh when no one picked up, so they left a message instead.

“Hey Andres, it’s you know who, I was just calling to tell you that I finally decided to go on my big trip, I just told auntie Ligaya everything, so she can tell you all the deets, anyway, love ya, talk to you later,” they said, and promptly hung up, letting out another but more weary sigh as they stared hard at their phone.

They then looked over at Asriel, who was now lazily laying on his back, his eyes closed, they couldn’t help but wonder if he was asleep… they glanced down at his chest, it just barely moved from breaths he very likely didn’t need.

Memories from earlier flashed in their mind and they remembered how it felt to be so close to him, wondering what it would be like to hold him… to rest against him, would he be bony? Or would he be soft? Either way, _they knew they wouldn’t mind._

They couldn’t help but imagine cuddling next to him and-

“Finished?” he suddenly spoke- eyes still closed, making Frisk jump, he was getting _really_ good at this!

“Uh, yeah, but… you look really comfy there, so… we could sit out here a little longer…if you want?” they asked sincerely, they honestly didn’t want to bother him if he was settled, they also weren’t so sure they were in the mood to go back into the mountain and see those puzzles or Hotland just yet.

“Mm, it’s a nice thought, the sunlight feels pleasant,” he began, but opened his eyes to gaze at Frisk, “but we have things to do,”

Frisk chuckled shyly, “I was a little afraid you’d say that,”

They then watched as he rose up from his spot, but was surprised when he grabbed onto their hand, pulling them up and yanking close to him, his arm snaking around them and his hand finding their waist-

once they saw his mischievous smile they realized in that instant what he was doing and was about to do, but had no time to protest as he dared to jump into the hole, the world around them changing in seconds.

Again they felt their heart drum away hard inside their chest as they slowly fell with Asriel, feeling practically weightless- but secure thanks to the large hands around their waist and his ability to levitate.

Frisk didn’t laugh this time around, instead, they focused on remembering to breathe as they stared at the impossible blue sky that grew farther and farther away, in silent awe this time.

They then felt a lump in their throat as they noticed how intensely Asriel was watching them.

But to their surprise, he didn’t look away once they caught his stare.

“ _What is it?”_ they dared ask.

His lips curled into a frown and _that_ was he decided to look away, “it’s nothing, I’m just thinking,”

They continued to watch him, “are you thinking about last night?” they pressed on with a trick question, curious to how he would answer.

“Mm,” was, unfortunately, the only response they got from him.

Frisk let out a thoughtful hum, nodding, pretending that they understood.

“Yes, what an interesting opinion, that was a very good conversation sir, yes, quite,” they joked in a very bad British accent, nonchalantly reaching up and patting his shoulder.

A pensive expression crossed his face as he looked down at their hand, and then back over to them.

“You know Asriel… don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a very mysterious person,” Frisk commented.

A hint of a smile appeared on his mug, “funny, I share the same sentiment about you,”

Frisk was fairly shocked by that, “ _wha-?_ _really?_ How? You’ve watched me for practically ever, how do you find me, of all people ‘ _mysterious’?”_

“I will tell you how, because every time I think I have you pegged down, you turn around and do something I don’t expect…,” he explained “hmph… _it’s probably a good thing you don’t know how to play chess_ , _I would get a headache_ ,”

It was then they finally touched the ground, this seemed to surprise Asriel as his toes accidentally touched down against a few flowers, making him jerk back in alarm an inch to levitate again.

. . .

An hour and a half later, Frisk trekked the second level of Hotland with Asriel flying high above them, watching as they were currently solving a puzzle.

They had long since admired the view of the new area and gawked at the red and golden lava, a towering maze of pipes, cycling cogs, smoking buildings, and mysterious spires.

Currently, they were focusing with great intensity on not how to fall into the lava pits below as strong bursts of steam blew them into different directions into the air, blowing Frisk to different pillars until they finally found the exit. . . or the next part of Asriel’s dangerous puzzle.

At the beginning _(roughly10 minutes earlier)_ it had been terrifying as they realized how easy it would be to go the wrong way and fall into the lava, but as they reminded themselves that Asriel would not let them die and they continued not failing, they no choice but to admit how much fun they were having… the amount of adrenaline they were dealing with was probably going to exhaust them later, but that was _later_ and this was _now_.

As they continued down the pathway, they hear Asriel call down to them “ _need any water?_ ”

“No, I’m good!” they called back.

“ _Too bad, because I’ve just decided this puzzle has gotten too easy for you!_ ” he retorted, and with that, began spraying down a flood of ice water from a rip in the fabric of space.

“What?! ** _-OH!!"_** they shrieked as the water tagged the right side of their body " ** _Y_ _OU JERK!"_**

The God laughed in amusement, “just solve the puzzle and it’ll _all be over_ Frisky! _GOOOooo~!_ ”

Frisk grit their teeth in discomfort as they pushed on, noticing that the water on the floating platform was now somewhat slippery under their boots, but they didn’t give it much thought as they jumped to the next steam current, allowing it to blow them to the next piece of ground.

And even if it distracted them and made them slip a little, the cold water actually helped them stay cool from the blazing hot temperatures and steam.

_A few minutes later…_

Just as when Frisk was starting to get the hang of things once again, they had not dodged Asriel fast enough and were now sopping with water, struggling to see as they wiped their long bangs from their view, still, they were _so_ close to finishing the puzzle... so, they pressed on vigilantly, the rush of it all encouraging them.

“ _Be careful moron!"_ he heard Asriel call.

“ _Then please quit pouring water on my face!"_ Frisk complained.

_“And take the fun out of seeing you struggle? I THINK NOT!"_

Frisk let out an irritated sigh, biting their lip and managing to get a proper view of where they wanted to go through their wet bangs, and wasting no more time, they began running toward the edge.

But their boots skidded over the water and they immediately lost control of their footing

and _slipped off_...

…It happened all too fast as they fell from the floating platform in the wrong direction, _missing the vent altogether._

They were menacingly greeted by the new view of nothing but a pool of red hot lava, the heat becoming increasingly unbearable, immediately sweating.

In their horror and panic, their body dosed up another increase of adrenaline, and the world began to slow down. . .

Doing the only thing they could to help, Frisk turned away from their doom and toward the sky for Asriel and his beautiful wings.

They saw the fear and panic in his eyes as he dived after them, but at the moment, they couldn't process why this frightened them.

They held out their hand for him to grab, their heart soaring high and above when he grabbed on to it tightly.

_But…_

Frisk’s breath was suddenly ripped and stolen away from them as they felt an indescribable burning pain in their other arm.

They didn’t have to look back to know what was happening to them, their world turning into a living hell, their vision fading fast from the agony, a scream filling their lungs as the lava consumed their arm and threatened to destroy the rest of their body with it.

**And suddenly- and without warning, as if someone else had turned off a switch, their pain and the world around them was… _gone._**

_..There was **nothing….**_

_..They found themselves in a black void, they felt nothing, the entirety of their body numb…_

It was then they heard a little boy’s voice speak up _“remember what I said Frisk, don’t kill and don’t be killed, don’t. .. don’t be like me,”_

**And, again, without warning, the switch was turned back on.**

Frisk was back outside, their recently used phone in their hands, sitting on the grassy mountain top, Asriel lying next to them, the sun shining pleasantly down on the both of them.

They blinked, confused for a few seconds, they raised their right arm and stared at it, wildly perplexed, they were _so_ sure it had just been brutally burnt to nothing just a few seconds ago…

But it was here again and they felt absolutely fine, not a lava burn in sight.

They remembered the God’s time traveling powers, quickly piecing together what just happened, still, they had questions.

“Did…I just _die?_ ” they asked.

“You were about to, but I took us back before you could,” he hummed, opening his eyes to gaze at the sky “but…death by lava, _it truly is a horrifying way to go._ ”

Frisk let out a weak sigh, “ _I never felt anything like it before_ … _and_ … _it feels like I’m waking up from a nightmare, one that felt way too real_ ,”

He switched his gaze to Frisk, and slowly… he brought a hand up and touched his hand to their back and giving it a few pats.

Frisk smiled gently as they realized he was making an attempt to comfort them, they didn’t hold it against him that he couldn’t catch them in time, at the moment, Frisk only felt relief.

“I am guessing you would like to go rest now, right?” Asriel asked.

Frisk paused at the question, “…I guess. _.but._.,”

“‘But’?” Asriel echoed, a hint of a smirk on his mug.

“I was _so close_ to finishing the puzzle! If there hadn’t been water involved, I would have gotten it _solved!”_ they explained, their eagerness and frustration returning to them.

Asriel sat up, “yes, it seems I had gotten over-excited and misjudged your skills, how do you feel about lasers instead?”

Frisk winced “isn’t that worse?”

“Maybe, but it won’t be as messy, you can’t slip on a laser,”

“And, just a thought, you may need to do something about… _this,_ ” he said as he reached out, momentarily running his clawed fingers through their bangs, the action making Frisk’s body stiffen up as they were viscerally reminded of the dream.

“.. _.Ah… yeah, maybe_ …,” they said, clearing their throat as they noticed how small they sounded, “I’ll wear a hair clip,”

“Perhaps one like this?” he suggested, holding a familiar barrette clip in his fingers that was adorned with a brilliant red heart charm.

Frisk’s eyes glittered at the barrette, it was one of their favorite things that they owned, they didn't remember where they had gotten it from, but for as long as they could remember- they _always_ had it and they had a strong feeling that it was important.

They smiled at the offer, but began to rethink it “thank you Asriel, but… this is _pretty_ _precious to me_ , I don’t want to risk losing it or damaging it, I think I’ll just wear a regular clip for the puzzles, if that’s okay,”

The God let out a quiet chuckle at that, “ _very well_ ,” he said, waving the clip away and summoning a bright blue barrette clip in its place.

He began to reach up as if he were about to place into their hair himself, but stopped and handed them the clip instead.

Frisk smiled at him sweetly, taking the clip, and blindly applied it to their bangs.

The God rolled his eyes, “it’s completely crooked,”

Frisk shrugged, “as long as it keeps me from falling to my doom, I don’t mind looking a little silly,”

He scrunched up his expression, raising his hands back to fuss with Frisk’s hair, “yes, while that’s fine with you, it’ll only distract me,”

Frisk couldn’t stop themselves from smiling coyly, their mouth speaking faster than they could think.

“I wonder if pouring icy water on me was distracting, _I am_ wearing a pretty thin tank top after all…,”

At that, Asriel paused his moments to stare intensely at them with heavy thoughts, his sharp pupils growing large.

Then, without warning, he turned away and shoved his arm into Universe Pocket, searching and struggling for a few seconds before pulling out the famous duct tape.

“I’ve had enough of that filthy mouth of yours,” he said and harshly ripped off a piece with his fangs.

Frisk let out a laugh, “ _oooh~_ _you are?_ Then you’ll be exhausted when you hear what else it can do!” they quipped brazenly, fortunately managing to getting a joke in right before Asriel silenced them, patting the tape down for good measure.

They continued giggling- mainly at Asriel’s tight embarrassed expression, allowing themselves to give in to their emotions for the moment being, they deserved it, they just had their had arm burned off not too long ago earlier in a different timeline.

But their giggling was quickly halted as Asriel picked them up and threw them over his shoulder and jumped down into the hole of Mt. Ebott.

…

It wasn’t until halfway back to Hotland that he finally put them back down.

He had been silent until that moment, as Frisk got a better look at their captor, they saw he was frowning tightly, a heavy look in his eyes.

“Listen Frisk, I’m not sure what you must think of me by now, but I need to make something clear to you,”

“ _Mm?_ ” they answered softly, the tape still keeping their mouth shut.

He let out a quiet sigh at that and snapped his fingers, sending the thin device to a nearby trashcan.

“You getting burned by the lava was an honest accident on my part,” he pressed on, resting a hand on their shoulder “I know what I’ve said before, but I was _not_ in a clear state of mind at the time, and I can _assure_ you nothing like that will be happening ever again, there will be no more accidents.” he admitted.

Frisk nodding firmly, looking down to the ground, remembering their conversation.

“... _Have you been burned like I have before?_ ” they asked in a soft quiet voice.

He dropped his hand from their shoulder, “…yes, and I am not completely immune to it in this body either, I know the pain you felt,”

“ _No wonder you fly so far away from it,_ ” Frisk thought out loud, eyeing his free hand thoughtfully, trying their best to keep a hold of their heart “ _I’m sure all that fur doesn’t help either_ ,”

Then on a whim, they then kicked a nearby pebble, momentarily distracting him, reaching over and holding his hand, butterflies swarming inside their belly.

It took him a few seconds to notice, blinking a few times in confusion before he flicked an intense stare down at their hands.

Frisk refused to let go.

Their size difference was never more evident in this moment as Asriel brought their conjoined hands up, revealing that Frisk had been only able to get a good grip on just three long thin fingers.

Then, Frisk saw it, a familiar soft glint in the God’s ever-serious eyes… the hint of something hiding behind his guard.

But then, as fast as it came, the moment disappeared as he winced and yanked his hands away from them.

An old ember burst into a flame inside Frisk at his brash action.

“I’m _not_ playing with you Asriel!” they blurted out.

His eyes went wide at the remark, backing up slightly, “ _what?_ Why did- what are you talking about? _”_

Frisk bit their bottom lip with some regret, but they couldn’t hide that they still ached to know the truth about what had happened in the night, if it had been a dream or not.

They also couldn't hide their feelings well, they never had a reason to keep them secret, they had no practice and it was showing. 

“I’m sorry, I know that was... weird… _it’s…_ it’s what you said to me last night in my dream, you said I was ‘playing with you’ - but I’m _not_ , I just wanted you to know that everything I do…I do it genuinely, and I promise I’m not here to mess with your heart like you mess with mine!” they admitted.

The God stood up sharply, his hands now balled up into fists.

“Do you really think that’s what I’m trying to do?” he asked, his tone direct and uncomfortably serious.

Frisk was silent for a second, swallowing a lump in their throat, _“I-_ I really don’t know what you’re trying to do, you confuse me, but I _do_ know you’re alone and bored and you haven’t had a real relationship in a _very long time_ , you can go back in time and start over, get whatever you want and rip holes in the universe…I can understand if the world must seem like some kind of game to you by now,”

They then dared to smile, “but, you know what? Despite everything, I still stand by what I said before, I want to be your friend, because I genuinely really like you,”

Asriel looked away and shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

He then let out a low growl, side-eyeing Frisk, “ ** _ **hmph,**_** you know what? I think we’ve had enough time together for today, I’m leaving you early, you can do whatever you want, I’ll be back tomorrow morning, perhaps we will finish the puzzle then,”

“Really? You’re just leaving like that?” they asked, unable to avoid their disappointment.

“Yeah, just like that.” he replied firmly, and with that, he was gone.

Frisk let out a heavy sigh, now feeling completely deflated, deciding to turn around, they were going to go visit Blooky, maybe they’d help them through this.

On their way there, they couldn’t help but wonder if they made a mistake by being so forward, growing up, they had dealt with all sorts of relationships, both platonic and romantic… but they’d never met anyone quite as reserved or secretive as Asriel.

Despite the violence and everything else, they _almost_ thought things were starting to go really well too…but after what had just happened, they weren’t sure what kind of steps to take to become closer to him anymore.

Maybe it _was_ probably for the best to get some space between the both of them.

_Yeah, talking to their new ghost friend was likely just the thing they needed now._

Unfortunately, when they reached Blooky’s house, they found a note stuck to the door.

‘s _orry…. went out exploring, bbl’_

Once again, Frisk let out another heavy sigh, resting their forehead on the door in further disappointment.

They stayed that way for a moment as they thought things over… beginning to feel the emotional highs, lows, stress, and wild impact of their day…

Perhaps all they needed was a good meal and some rest? It wasn’t like they were getting enough sleep lately anyway.

Giving in to the gripping allure of self-care, they patted at the door and slowly began their trek back to the Palace, taking their time to gaze at the scenery, hoping to spot something that they hadn’t caught before.

…

Once they finally got back to their home, they turned up some funky jazz music, turn it up loud, and dance-shuffled into the kitchen, fishing around their fridge and cooking up a hot meal, arroz caldo- chicken rice porridge, it was always their aunt’s specialty and tasted better than it sounded.

They ate their meal in the calm familiarity of their room as they watched another movie on their laptop, allowing themselves to relax.

After they were finished though, they found that they still felt _… anxious…_

Once again, their thoughts fell back on what had happened the night before, they sat back on their bed, laying their head against a propped-up pillow, and blindly stared over at the door.

Frisk imagined him creeping into their room at the dead of night just as he had done before, dark, silent, and daunting…

They couldn’t help but wonder where things could have gone if the circumstances between them were different.

Frisk imagined that he wouldn’t have left once they touched him, they would have pulled him into their arms and pressed him closer to them, and hug him, just like they had wanted to.

They couldn’t help but smile as their imagination took full control, taking Frisk down a much more daring and pleasant path, imagining that he’d kiss their neck, and they’d turn his face to kiss him back on the mouth.

They would taste each other and Frisk would audaciously feel the sharpness of his fangs.

They couldn’t help but wonder what he tasted like…

He really liked sweet foods, so perhaps…chocolate pie? Honey? Cinnamon? _They could only dream._

They giggled bashfully as they imagined that he’d probably be a biter, they weren’t quite a fan, _but maybe they'd make an exception just for him..._

They would then wrap their legs around him, pulling him in even closer to their body, both shivering in delight when his erection underneath his robe would press against the sweet spot hidden behind their underwear.

Frisk’s breathing grew slow and heavy at the thought and their heart skipped a beat, their hands sliding down their breasts and further down until they found themselves beneath their real underwear, gingerly rubbing around their clit, teasing themselves as they imagined he would.

They imagined him chucking warmly in his deep husky voice into their ear, reveling in the tingly feeling it sent down their spine.

They’d then watch as he’d get on his knees above them and lift up his robe, revealing himself to them…

Frisk concentrated for a moment, their fingers pausing as they wondered what his penis might actually look like, or… wait.. _did he even have a penis? Or… what if he actually had a vagina? Or maybe not even either of those, he WAS a monster after all…_

…Well, whatever he had, he still had other perfectly reliable appendages to work with, so Frisk knew they wouldn’t have minded either way, and they especially wouldn’t care what he had underneath his robe, they’d still have a great time with each other, but for fantasy purposes, they realized that they would have to pick.

They let out a soft sigh, changing their own position and sitting up further as they made a quick choice and slowly slid two fingers into themselves, brushing their clit with their thumb.

As they imagined him ripping off their underwear and penetrating them with ease, their body wet and ready for him, they shivered as they started their own movements, pumping in sync with their imagination, their body was already overtaken with pleasure and their mind hazy with lust, they realized that this was an achievement that wasn’t going to take them long _at all._

Which made sense, ever since they met him, they’d been holding a lot of pent-up sexual feelings and boy did it feel _fantastic_ to finally act on them.

It felt like they had been steadily shaken up just like a bottle of soda, ready to burst any second, and now they were _finally_ but slowly in the middle of popping their top, they really hoped this would relieve the pressure for a while.

They closed their eyes, slowly becoming unaware of themselves as they imagined he’d be a dominant lover, rough, and aggressive, sliding his hands underneath their shirt to massage their breasts while he pumped himself into them with escalating reckless abandon, his fangs glinting in the glinting in the dark night as he panted breathlessly, to pause when he heard them moan and hold their hands. 

Something about the passionate image in their mind stunned them and they held on to it, focusing hard on it as they solved themselves, this was just another puzzle and they knew the reward was going to be _so_ _good._

_And then-_ _!!!_

_-like that_ \- Frisk’s fantasy quickly dwindled and dissipated into nothing as they finally reached the top of their orgasm, letting out a quick shaky moan as the pleasure swept through their lower body, losing feeling in their feet for a second and falling back on to their bed.

_Oh…that was really good… now they were truly relaxed.. ._

They stayed that way for a few minutes, recollecting themselves and their mind.

That night, they went to sleep early, earning their well-deserved rest.

…

That morning, Frisk found themselves feeling chirpy and cheerful, fully ready to take on Asriel’s puzzle and get it over with.

_However…_

As they exited the bathroom and saw Asriel sitting in his chair in the living room, they _finally_ remembered in great horror of the fact that he was able… _to_ _feel their_ _emotions. . ._

Frisk stopped cold where they stood, suddenly more nervous than they dared to admit.

_Where the heck had their head been last night?_ It had been far _too easy_ to give in to temptation… he didn’t seem to notice them yet, maybe they could lock themselves in their bedroom and never come out again…

But they resisted the temptation this time, taking a _very long_ and _very slow_ breath, and continued to approach him.

They smiled anxiously as he looked up at them, noticing right away that he didn’t meet their gaze.

_“Mm, good morning_ ,” he greeted, peering back down at the book he was holding.

Giving in quickly, Frisk walked further up to him hastily, nearly tripping in the process, gripping at the arm of the chair for support and earning Asriel’s attention as he stared at them with alarm.

“I am _so, so, so, so, sooo sorry for yesterday_ ,” they blurted “I _completely_ forgot that you could feel my feelings,”

His expression changed into something unreadable as he looked back down at his book.

“Forget it.” he answered firmly.

“‘Forget it’? _Really?-_ _Ah_ …wait, are we… on the same page? Do.. do yooouuuu know what I… _um.. what I actually did?”_ they asked nervously, practically whispering. 

He lowered his head slightly, “I’m not certain of _what exactly_ you did, but I have a _very_ good guess, and because of that, I’d rather not talk about it, it’s not like I can control what you do in privacy anyway,”

Frisk rubbed their chin, “are you sure you don’t want to talk…? That _had_ to have been _pretty_ intense and-,”

“I SAID- ** _ **FORGET ABOUT IT,**_** FRISK ** **!**** ” he roared in frustration, glaring at them intensely for a moment before huffing in annoyance and looking back down to his book.. whether he was actually reading it now was very unclear.

Frisk ignored the shiver that ran down their spine, watching him for a few seconds before they went to the kitchen, quietly fixing up an egg and waffle breakfast, noticing that Asriel refused to watch them- sitting at the table instead, still reading his book (?)

Once they finished cooking and got ready to eat, they attempted once more to talk to him about the issue.

“...So, does this mean you don’t mind if I do what I did again? Or should I just hold myself back? Because it… might end up being _really_ hard, but I would resist temptation for your sake,” they admitted with all honesty.

He merely answered them by flicking his scarlet eyes at them for a second before continuing his reading and nonchalantly turning a page, showing that he no longer cared about the issue- or at least was pretending to not care.

Frisk let out a sigh of defeat, “what are you reading?”

He raised the book up to show them the cover, it read _'Fabulae Amor In Astronmia'_

They cocked their head to the side, struggling to read the fancy font “is that… Latin?”

“It is,” he confirmed, putting it back down, “eat your breakfast already, we still need to finish the puzzle,”

“What about the flowers?” they asked, not surprised that he knew another language but still impressed anyway.

“We can do that afterward,” he answered.

They gave him an uncertain smile and began eating, not enjoying the stiff and uncomfortable mood this morning, quickly deciding to do something about it.

“Hey, I have a… question, I promise it’s not related to our conversation earlier,”

“ _What is it?”_ he answered flatly.

“What crime is the egg most afraid of?”

He merely stared, waiting.

“ _Poaching!_ ” they chimed, raising their fork of sunny side-up egg and taking a big bite.

He blinked, cracking a small smile, “was that supposed to be a joke?”

“Of course, do you want to hear more?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back, “produce them,”

“Okay, what do you call alien eggs?”

He raised an eyebrow in question.

“ _Eggstra-terrestrials!_ ” they chimed, cheerfully grinning at him.

Asriel gave a slight smile, his shoulder bouncing slightly as he silently chuckled.

Frisk laughed in both their accomplishment and at their own joke, also somewhat surprised that Asriel was showing signs of being a fan of dad-jokes.

“What does a meditating egg say?” they began again.

“What do they say?”

Frisk closed their eyes, placing their hands in a meditating pose “ _ooohhmmleeet~_ ,”

Asriel vocally chuckled, but gave Frisk’s shoulder a small push, “you’re overselling the eggs,”

Frisk waved him off “alright, alright, I’ll give ‘em up,”

They continued eating their breakfast, warmed up by the change in atmosphere.

After a minute, Frisk spoke up again.

“Why didn’t the waffle go to the pancake party?” they questioned nonchalantly.

“I have no clue,” Asriel replied, not looking up from his book.

“He was… a square.” Frisk answered.

There was a moment of silence… until finally the both of them broke into laughter simultaneously.

Satisfied with the fact that they were able to cheer up the God, Frisk finished up their comedy act and ate the rest of their breakfast, and got ready for what came next.

...

The puzzle was still just as hot and intense as it had been before, and slightly more frustrating as Asriel shot lasers down at them every few seconds, the only water they had was from out of their water bottle, but now there was an issue of sweat- thankfully they were able to keep their bangs out of their eyes with their barrette.

Once they solved it and got on the boat, enjoying the breeze, Frisk turned their attention over at Asriel.

And they saw it, the familiar softness in his dark eyes and a genuine smile on his face.

They felt their heart do a few a back flips and smiled back, and was silently surprised when he didn’t drop his.

Frisk wasn’t sure when it had happened, maybe it was when they were telling him jokes, or during the puzzle when he was watching out for them and made sure their barrette was in the right place… but, something had _changed_ between them…

They weren’t completely sure, but they had a really good feeling that the two of them were actual friends now.

Frisk thought about talking to him about it, maybe even gloat, but… they knew they still had to be careful with him, afraid if they said the wrong thing- he would stop smiling and deny everything.

An anxious part of themselves wondered if they should feel denial, was it really right what they felt? _After everything he did?_

No… they’d accepted and forgiven him and were going to continue doing so.

Frisk was certain that the only way they were ever going be truly free was that it was _only_ going to happen on peaceful terms.

And it was going to be done with nothing else but love.

It seemed the next step was becoming _best_ friends with Mr.Hyperdeath and they were truly excited for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to just say real quick, that Frisk's imagination when they fantasize is super romantic, cheesy, and kind of over the top- it's what worked for them due to guessing what Asriel would be like- so it wasn't perfect, and I wanted you guys to know that any future intimacy scenes that may come- they won't be written the same way and definitely will be more paced out.


	10. Gradually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes and for some unknown reason the God has been meaner than usual, and Frisk at their limit, shows him exactly how it makes them feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is excruciatingly short and I apologize, but don't worry, I have another in store coming soon.

Inspiration Song: Leave Me Alone by I Don't Know How But They Found Me

_Big shot, so what, do you wanna pretend?_   
_You took the money but the money couldn't buy a friend_   
  
_Now I want you to leave me alone_   
_They say the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't_   
_Oh, you're a big shot here but nobody else knows_   
_Now I want you to leave me alone_   
  
_Blind spot, take your best shot, lucky me_   
_Go fly a kite until you're tangled in the hanging tree_   
  
_Now I want you to leave me alone_   
_They say the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't_   
_Oh, you're a big shot here but nobody else knows_   
_Now I want you to leave me alone_   
  
_Four in the morning but we're having such a lovely time_   
_Mad as a Hatter with a dagger and a dollar sign_   
_Aristocrat, tip your hat and break your mother's heart_   
_And when the sun comes up, you'll find a brand new God_   
_(A brand new God)_   
  
_Now I want you to leave me alone_   
_They say the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't_   
_Oh, you're a big shot here but nobody else knows_   
_Now I want you to leave me alone_

Recently, Frisk had realized that time was an interesting and funny thing.

After getting… somewhat used to living in Asriel’s world, they quickly found that normal problems no longer applied to them.

Well, they still needed to worry about keeping their hygiene up and taking care of laundry, but they didn’t have to worry about issues like a real job, paying bills, or taking out the trash.

Now their problems consisted of doing chores for the God, dealing with his sassy rude mouth, and antisocial behavior… thankfully, he wasn’t as bad as when they first met, every day he became a little more tolerable due to their slow growing friendship. 

However… Frisk’s crush on Asriel never dimmed, their feelings for him only growing stronger with their friendship… it made them wonder what he really thought of it, he could feel it too after all.

The days moved by fast, and those days turned into weeks…

And soon a month had passed by. . .

The chores steadily changed, perhaps Asriel’s way of keeping things interesting and fun- it definitely was as he constantly changed the puzzles and the locations, after that he focused on ones at a smaller scale- bringing home hand puzzle toys, giving them the most unique and strangest ones he could find- some of them holding within interesting prizes when solved. _(A plus!)_

He also began requesting new meals for Frisk to create, which also solved the question of how they’d collect groceries, they would create a list and he would bring it all to them with a literal snap.

As time continued to pass by, they found that their favorite time of the day was when the two of them sat down together and just ate and _talked,_ the best part was that they could tell Asriel shared the sentiment as well.

Although, the only thing that stayed the same was that Frisk still needed to tend to the gardens.

However. . . it got to a point that Asriel realized that the walk between the gardens took much too long and he gave in to his impatience, tearing the dimension another new hole and creating a portal to the Ruins.

It was a concerning and worrying change for Frisk, but they eventually accepted it . . . they really had no choice anyway as he grabbed them up and took them through the portal.

Their friendship with Blooky soared even faster as they continued to make visits to each other’s homes, telling the ghost about the overworld, about their old life and how their new life was going, listening to music, and searching for used instruments in the dump, and feeling like garbage together after good meals.

Blooky was the ghost to go to when the God was simply _too much_.

Although, despite their friendship Asriel, Frisk recently found him becoming increasingly more impatient, rude, selfish, and pompous.

They weren’t sure what had caused it, but they decided they weren’t going to tolerate it for much longer.

Finally, one day after a nasty argument, Asriel gifted them with new art material and requested that they finally paint a picture for him.

Frisk raised their eyebrows at the new easel in front of them, then eyed Asriel, giving him a skeptical look.

They then flashed him a smile, “thanks, I really love it, I’ll get started on something for you right away,”

He smiled back, albeit smugly, crossing his arms and legs, casually floating up behind them, “what will you paint?”

Frisk tapped their chin, pretending to _really_ think about it.

“ _Hm…_ not sure yet, I think it’s going to be difficult to focus if you’re watching, can you come back in…let’s say…an hour?” they questioned.

“Fine, that’s fair,” he said, sounding slightly disappointed, and with that, exited from the room.

Frisk chuckled mischievously as they turned their full attention to the easel, preparing the paint, using a lot of black and different shades of purple.

An hour later.. .

“So, Frisk, what do you have to show me? I can tell you’ve been fairly excited about it,” Asriel questioned after reappearing in the nearby chair.

Frisk held back a giggle, “well, sir, it’s a portrait of you, I think it’s one of the more… _interesting_ things I’ve painted, but I’m not really sure of how you’ll feel about it, but I think it.. _ah._. _really_ describes your behavior _really well_ lately,”

Asriel narrowed his brows at them in suspicion, “show me.”

“Only if you say ‘please’,”

He scowled, _“really?_ ”

“ _Yes!_ ”

“Fine, ‘ ** **please**** ’ show me.” he said with an annoyed sigh.

At that, Frisk got up, picked up the portrait, grinned wide, and showed it to him.

At least twelve different expressions crossed over Asriel’s face as he stared at the painting. . .

Said portrait, was a professionally detailed, large, flaccid, human penis with a crudely drawn in angry face at the tip, the only hint of familiarity was the tiny horns and floppy ears. 

...None of Asriel’s twelve expressions were positive ones, _even his portrait was unhappy_.

Frisk pursed their lips as they continued to hold back their laughter, tears forming their eyes.

“Is ****this**** ** _ **really**_** what you think of me ** **?**** ” he asked with all seriousness, hints of anger tinting his tone of voice.

Frisk’s let out a sigh, the laughter dying away “ _right now it is_ , because you want to know something Mr. Hyperdeath? Lately you’ve been a real gigantic pe-,”

****“And what is that even supposed to**** ** _ **mean?**_** ” he growled.

Frisk frowned deeply, they didn’t like saying this “it means you’ve been acting like a real gigantic _jerk_ , and this is _my way_ of saying that I’m _very_ tired of it,”

They then smiled weakly “…but other than that… I think you’re really great, I just wish you would tell me what’s wrong with you and why you’ve been acting this way,”

Asriel stared hard at them for a moment before letting out a huff, “I won’t grant your wish, but I suppose I and understand the... very ‘creative’ point of your statement behind this sad excuse of a painting, to which I honestly refuse to look at anymore,”

Without any warning, he got up and snatched the painting up, and flew out of the room with it.

Frisk laughed in disbelief, _“wait!_ Where are you taking that?!” they cried out, following as fast as they could.

“ ** _ **THE CORE! I’M BURNING IT! IT’S HIDEOUS!**_** ” he yelled back.

Frisk ran faster, “are you _serious?!_ ”

“ _YOU KNOW I AM, YOU IDIOT!_ ”

Frisk stopped arguing, continuing trailing him, stopping only when he did, panting in exhaustion as they watched him throw their creation into the machine like a frisbee. 

“ _You really… don’t know how to handle embarrassment… do you?”_ Frisk asked between breaths, they couldn’t say they were hurt or bothered that he didn’t like it, they had expected that from the start and had emotionally prepared themselves for that.

What dumbfounded them was that he _obliterated_ it.

“I didn’t like it and I didn’t want to see it, so I got rid of it,” he explained, dusting off his hands.

It was then, that it finally clicked for Frisk.

“Is that why you got rid of all your parent’s things and locked down the towns?” they asked, “you didn’t like the pain of your family and other monsters being gone, so you pushed it all out of sight,”

Asriel stared down at Frisk, his mouth opening to say something… but nothing came out.

“ _It’s…okay_ , I understand if that’s how you handle pain, I won’t judge you, but…I just hope that you won’t do the same to me if I ever cause you pain too,” they said sincerely, their tone of voice firm.

They gazed at him for a moment and turned away, making their way back to their home.

A few hallways later, Asriel appeared next to them.

They stopped walking when he put his hand on their shoulder blade, letting out a small sound at his touch.

**_**“**_** _I_ ** _ **won’t ever**_** _get rid of you Frisk_ ,” he admitted, ****“**** ** _ **I couldn’t if I tried… .. trust me, I have, many times.**_** ”

A shiver went down their spine, they peeked over and realized that he was much closer than they had thought.

They could have hugged him right then and there, hell, they toyed with the thought of kissing him.

But he moved away too quickly to attempt either choice.

So, instead, they opted for smiling sweetly at him, patting at his arm “thank you, Asriel,”

They kept their hand on his arm and softened their smile, “but there’s something I really want to know, what’s been up with you lately? You’ve been so mean lately, meaner than usual… is.. _is this about T-Drop? I can’t think of anything else that’s changed to cause this,_ ”

Asriel scowled, looking away but not pulling away, he didn’t say anything.

“ _Are… you jealous?_ ” they dared to ask, they hadn’t attempted to ask him such a thing after the first time.

“I’m not ** _ **JEALOUS!**_** I just don’t like them in the house! **_**I didn’t even agree that they could visit!**_** ” he growled, finally confessing.

Frisk’s mouth gaped open in surprise, “wow, why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? It’s been _weeks_ since they started coming over,”

“Because it’s in the Rules! I can’t tell them what to do anymore!”

“Yeah, but you could have just _asked me_ to keep them out, I would have listened to you, I kind of have to,”

“ ** **YES! I**** **_**KNOW**_** ** **that!**** But think _harder_ about it, it’s all an indirect way of _me_ giving _them_ a command! It could end up breaking the rule! I’m not risking it.” he explained.

Frisk blinked, concerned about his thought process and slightly flattered and ever impressed that he’d go that far to keep their soul, “well… what if I do it of my own volition? Not for you, but for _me?_ ”

He rolled his eyes, “no, I don’t think it’ll work, in the back of your mind, you’ll _still_ know why you’re doing it, this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you about it,”

Frisk let out a sigh, “alright, fine, so… what do you want to do that _won’t_ break the Rules? I can’t let you keep being unhappy, it’s bad for all of us, including you and _especially for my art_ ,”

Asriel gazed at them for a second and smiled with newfound humor.

“Hm… well, speaking of which, you _do_ owe me a better and less phallic painting…,” he began, scratching at the chin of his muzzle.

“A vagina?” Frisk joked.

Asriel rolled his eyes, yet he continued to smile.

“No.” he ordered firmly, poking at Frisk’s forehead, “no more genitalia allowed for today, I want you to try again, paint a professional portrait of me, and… if I like it, I promise I’ll be less cantankerous,”

Frisk grinned, “now that sounds like a good deal Mr. Hyperdeath, should we pinky promise on it?” they asked, holding out their said pinky.

Asriel narrowed his brows with uncertainty, “wouldn’t you rather shake on it instead?”

They giggled, pushing their little finger out further, hoping to tempt him “nope, this is funner,”

He scoffed, and without any more complaint, he held out his pinky and curled it around Frisks.

Feeling very pleased with the compromise, Frisk clapped their hands together, “alright, I guess I’ll go start on it now, this might take me a few hours or more, so… stayed tuned, I guess?”

“Very well, I will be waiting,” he said with a cool smirk, and with that, vanished.

As Frisk had suspected, the new portrait took them much longer than a few hours as they ended up finishing the next day, _they wanted the deal to work out after all._ . .

But eventually, they finished it, actually finding that they were happy with how it came out, still though, Asriel had proved hard to please, so they were clearly nervous that he wouldn’t share their feelings.

. . .

“Alright, keep your eyes closed, I’m turning it around… and… okay! Open them!” they announced, holding the painting out to him.

He stared at it, his head back up and then focusing harder, leaning forward.

The portrait was of his profile and was in black and white, and his eyes were completely scarlet red, the mood of it was sharp, serious, and dangerous.

He was silent for a moment, and Frisk was having a hard time getting a read on him, growing anxious as he stared at it.

“Do you… _like it? Is this better?_ ” they dared to ask.

He crossed his arms and nodded firmly, “it’s a great improvement, but I’m still wondering, is this still how you see me?”

Frisk was unsure of how to answer that question this time, looking to the painting and back to their friend.

“Well… yeah, kind of, I know you’re personally not as ‘clean cut’ as this… _I uh_ , I was mainly focusing on making something that I hoped you would like artistically,” they explained.

A hint of a smile appeared on his face, _“mmm…_ ,” he then gazed over up at them with humor, “you can relax, I like it,”

A slow but bright grin of relief bloomed on Frisk’s face, “thank goodness, so, does this mean-,”

“Yes, I’ll hold up my end of the deal, but _only_ if you hang up the picture somewhere,”

“Can do,” Frisk confirmed and looked around, their eyes landing in the direction of the kitchen.

“I think I know the best place for it.”

…

After hanging it up, the two wondered back into the living room and sat down together.

“I have decided that your punishment is over,” he suddenly announced out of the blue.

Frisk blinked, surprised, “ _really?_ ”

“Mhm, I will be returning your internet and television as well,”

Frisk gasped, their hands clasping their cheeks and leaning back from a wave of emotion “oh, _ohhh man,_ I’m _so happ_ y~ I mean, sure I was starting to get used to it, but… _wow… I can’t tell you how much I missed the internet,_ ”

Asriel chuckled, “and I’ve really and truly missed eating, I know we’ll both enjoy this,”

Frisk chortled, “ _gosh, I should have painted a picture for you weeks ago_ ,” they then eyed him with humor, “or did you just miss eating _that much?_ ”

His sharp shoulders rattled with silent laughter, “ _both_ ,”

They then smiled at him, “so… does this mean you trust me now?”

He let out a low sigh, “it does to an extent, it occurred to me that no one would put up with all the things that you do if they truly wanted to escape,”

Frisk leaned back into the couch, “that’s right, I’ve accepted living here as a sort of ‘long term vacation’, I gotta admit, I’ve really come to enjoy your world Asriel,”

At that, he merely smiled at them, the both of them pleased with each other, because it was becoming highly apparent that this wasn’t just the God’s world anymore.


	11. Celebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the anniversary of Frisk's birth, they wake up not knowing what the day holds in store...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! There's a tiny bit of alcohol use in this chapter, but I think this will be the only time it'll make an appearance, I apologize if anyone has any issues with it. 
> 
> ALSO, thank you so much for the comments! They always make my day that much better to know people are enjoying my shenanigans. 
> 
> And to answer Here4Fanfiction's question: Yes, I've thought about making Frisk's painting, I don't know when I'll get to it, I haven't been in a big drawing mood as of late, but there's always a chance I'll get to it, you guys will either see it pop up one day or I'll announce it.

**Inspiration Song:** Preach by Saint Motel

_I wanna know_   
_Do you even feel it, do you even feel it now?_   
_And you're not alone_   
_So don't be hesitatin' for my lovin'_   
  
_Oh, I'm down on my knees_   
_Mercy, whoa, whoa, whoa, baby_   
  
_Preach_   
_Mm, teach me, baby_   
_Teach us, a-preach it, baby_   
_Preach_   
_Soul lovin', do the soul lovin'_   
  
_You gotta say_   
_Nothing too specific, you know I'll get it anyway_   
_A hip's gotta sway_   
_So shake it like your mama, and seven day prayer_   
  
_Oh, I'm down on my knees_   
_Mercy, whoa, whoa, whoa, baby_   
  
_Preach_   
_Mm, teach me, baby_   
_Teach us, a-preach it, baby_   
_Preach_   
_Soul lovin', do the soul lovin'_   
  
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
  
_Shout it from the rooftops, scream it from the pulpit_   
_Yell it till I hear you sell it like you fought and_   
_Shout it from the rooftops, scream it from the pulpit_   
_Yell it till I hear you, ain't no doubt about it, yeah_   
  
_Whoa, whoa, whoa, baby_   
_Preach_   
_Mm, teach me, baby_   
_Teach us, a-preach it, baby_   
_Preach_   
_Soul lovin', do the soul lovin'_   
_Whoa, whoa, whoa, baby_   
_Preach_   
  
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
_Preach it, baby, preach_   
_Preach it, baby, preach_

Frisk cracked open their eyes as they slowly woke up, faintly smiling as they remembered that today was their 21st birthday.

So far, they had spent a total of four months in the Underground, but it felt like much longer than that, their life had been completely absorbed in Asriel, Blooky, dangerous puzzle-solving, safe puzzle-solving, playing games, talking about inane things, making new food recipes, and _very soon_ \- they would be taking trips across the world.

They didn’t expect too much from the two monsters, but if the books in the Librarby told them anything about how they celebrated, they couldn’t help but be very curious about how their friends would go about it.

Asriel had barely batted an eyelash when they had reminded him about it, which was fine, it just meant that Frisk was going to be setting the bar fairly low.

They could drink legally now, and couldn’t help but admit that they were curious about it, so the only thing they really wanted for their birthday was to get their first ever taste of booze, if they got that, then they would be all set.

As much they wished they could sleep in for a change, they pushed themselves and sleepily got ready for the day.

Except, once they were and stepped into the hallway, they heard the familiar sounds of eggs sizzling and smelled a sweet breakfast waft through the air to greet them.

Curiously, they tiptoed through the living room and to the kitchen, and sure enough, Asriel was hovering in front of the oven, working on a few eggs, and off to the side sat a foot tall stack of pancakes and bacon.

“Good morning and happy birthday,” he said without looking back, “I’m almost finished here, go sit at the couch, I’ll turn on the fireplace,”

Frisk’s mouth dropped open, pleasantly shocked, “ _ah_ … okay, thank you, _good_ …good morning to you too,”

They couldn’t help but watch for a few seconds before they turned around back to the living room, sitting down on the couch, outstretching their legs to get their feet closer to the fire, watching in amazement as it blossomed to life.

After the curiosity eased, they allowed themselves to relax and wait, which didn’t last too long as two wooden food trays appeared, one in front of them and one next to Asriel’s favorite chair.

Clearly, it seemed they were having breakfast in the living room this morning, which…was actually pretty cool, was this his birthday present to them?

They backtracked on that thought as a small single box appeared nearby their feet, it was wrapped in shiny sky blue wrapping paper with a glossy and elegant purple ribbon tied around it.

They reached down and picked it up, looking over it in awe.

“Don’t you dare open it yet, eat your breakfast first,” they heard Asriel demand from behind them.

They looked up at him with a bright grin, “don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m just amazed that you got me a present at all,”

Asriel rolled his eyes and hovered to his chair, sitting down and making himself comfortable.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, it was necessary to properly celebrate your birthday,” he explained, then snapped his fingers, setting their trays with a classy but loaded down breakfast, all of it looked delicious.

“Well, I’m loving it so far, this is really great, thank you Asriel,” they answered, picking up their fork and digging in, making a pleased hum at the taste, “this is really great too, you really are a lovely cook,”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s bad manners you shameless pig,” he teased playfully, taking an overly big bite of his own food, “also, tell me something I don’t know,”

Frisk merely nodded in response, stifling back their giggle.

Once they were finished and happily full, it was time to open their present.

Asriel seemed to grow agitated as Frisk carefully pulled the ribbon and slowly begun to delicately unwrap their gift.

“Just ****tear**** into it already! You’re not going to hurt my feelings,” he complained.

“I know, _I just_ … it bothers me when I know how much trouble people go to wrap gifts, it seems a shame to just destroy it and rip it to pieces,” they explained.

“It was _made_ to be destroyed Frisk, trust me when I say that everything in existence is born to eventually die, so something as minuscule as wrapping paper is _especially_ not exempt from that fact,”

Frisk narrowed their eyebrows at him and his speech, but didn’t say anything but merely put a little more elbow grease into their work.

What they found was a fancy black box, they bit their lip and opened the top, gasping in shock when they saw what appeared to be a dainty black crown, it had intricate curves and sharp edges, and had gems of all sorts of colors embedded into the metal.

They looked up to Asriel with wide eyes, uncertain how they felt about this just yet.

“ _A_ _crown?_ ” they uttered out, urgently and nervously looking for the reason behind their lavish gift.

He grinned, chuckling in amusement “I suspected you would be this perplexed,”

_“A crown_ ** _ **??**_** ” they echoed, raising the box in the air for Asriel to see for emphasis.

“Yes, I made you a crown, it isn’t a proposal or anything like that, I just couldn’t think of anything and I remembered how much you like my throne, so, I thought I’d surprise you, it looks like my plan worked better than I thought it would,”

They blinked in further shock, doing a double-take on their gift and back on Asriel.

“You _made_ this?” they questioned, they were clearly impressed.

“Yes, just like I made the throne, it’s made from the same material,”

Frisk studied the crown a little longer, the shock now starting to wear off.

“It’s so beautiful and elegant, _I can’t believe it’s mine_ ,” they said, they then looked up to Asriel, “wait, where did you get the gems at?”

Asriel stared at Frisk, he opened his mouth to speak… but didn’t say anything.

“Mr. Hyperdeath, be honest with me, did you _steal_ the _gems?_ ” they questioned, narrowing their eyebrows at him with full judgment.

“Before I say anything, I just want you to know that this gift is nonreturnable….but _yes_ , I stole the gems from an incredibly old racist and senile collector with one foot in the grave, no one will _ever_ know or care that they’re missing,”

At that, Frisk let out a deep sigh, falling back against the couch, “ _you’re a lot, you know that?_ ”

He chuckled warmly “yes, but the same goes for you, just humor me won’t you?”

Frisk slowly smiled, giving in, and with that, carefully took hold of the crown and put it on top of their head, “how do I look?”

Asriel rested his head against his fist, still smiling, “…like you need to sit in the throne to properly match, but joking aside, you look very… good,”

They smiled shyly, flattered by the rare compliment, “oh… _thank you sir,_ you look very good too!”

He scoffed at that but was clearly amused and pleased, “… _hm_ …now with all this over with, I’ve decided to let you do whatever you want today, so, that begs the question, what do you want to do?”

“Don’t laugh, but honestly… I would like to go back to sleep,” they answered.

Asriel rolled his eyes, “I figured as much, but it’s fine, I will just go work on the puzzles until you wake back up, and oh- that reminds me, I have a cake ready for you later,”

Frisk grinned brightly, “what flavors?”

He leaned forward and grinned back, his fangs shining from the firelight.

“It’s a surprise, such as your birthday dinner will be,” he answered teasingly.

“ _Oooh_ , I love a good birthday surprise,” they commented and backtracked, remembering themselves “can I have some wine too? Red wine?” they asked.

“Of course, today you will get whatever you want,” he said with a cool smile and leaned back into his chair, “ _as long as it doesn’t break our Rules_ ,”

Frisk laughed, “darn, you got me,” they joked and then let out a yawn, gingerly taking off their crown and sitting it back in its box on the floor.

“Going back to bed now?” he questioned curiously.

“ _Actually_ …,” they began, stretching and shifting around on the couch until they were laying down, “this is pretty cozy, as long as the fire stays on- I think I’ll sleep here,”

“Very well,” he said, and then snapped his fingers, effectively vanishing the plates, silverware, and trays, “sleep well moron,”

“After _that_ breakfast, I think I will, thanks,” they complimented as they rolled over onto their side, curiously watching Asriel as he got up from his seat.

“ _Wait_ …,” they began.

He automatically stopped moving “what is it?”

“Are you sure… the..crown isn’t some sort of proposal?” they questioned.

He raised an eyebrow at them and smiled softly, “no, Frisk, I simply wanted to create something nice for you,”

Frisk let out a quiet but deep sigh, “and you succeeded, it’s very nice, thank you… I just wanted to make sure… I can never tell with you,”

At that, Asriel chuckled softly, “ _just go to sleep already_ ,” and disappeared from the room.

Frisk closed their eyes and begun thinking about their conversation…

The real question was, did Frisk _want_ him to have a special proposal of some kind?

_Oh maybe_ , he truly did have some serious commitment skills, but _… hmmm…_

Frisk giggled quietly at themselves, the birthday surprises that Asriel had orchestrated had really turned up the butterflies on full flutter, he truly was being too kind and it was making their heart ache.

If he wasn’t careful, Frisk’s crush on him was likely going to turn into real love.

They shifted around on the couch, squishing their face into the arm cushion, oh… what was _that_ smell? It wasn’t bad…was it.. tea? _It smelled of tea… who spilled tea on the couch?_

As Frisk pondered on this question, they drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a small herd of white goats sharing a pile of apples, some wearing pink sweaters and… the others in purple dresses… _or were those robes... ?_

When they woke up, they slowly found that they had been covered up with a light but, cozy, red blanket.

They smiled sleepily and continued to lay there for a moment, taking in the sweet sentiment and wondering what else the day held in store for them as their mind gathered itself back together.

Eventually, they sat up and noticed the black crown.

Frisk had never been too much into jewelry or majorly ornate things, and crowns were more than on the excessive side, but, due to the fact that Asriel had made it _just for them… for their birthday_ …

They decided that they would make a special exception for it.

With that thought process, they picked up the crown and carefully sat it back on their head, deciding it wasn’t coming off until the day was finished.

They then got up, very quickly finding that Asriel wasn’t back yet, hm… they could call him, but this seemed like the perfect time to work on an art project they had.

As Frisk walked over to their easel, they noticed a card on the floor, it had their name written on it.

They picked it up and discovered that it was from Blooky, aw, how nice, a birthday card!

_…But where was Blooky? Oh well..._

Once they opened the card, they were pleasantly surprised when a very spooky melody began playing, and it read…

_‘happy birthday frisk, sorry, I would have gotten you a bullet pattern card but i wasn’t sure you’d like it, i got you a song instead’_

_‘p.s. you’re asleep… so i will just leave this here, sorry’_

They chuckled fondly, standing there for a moment or two to properly enjoy the tune.

Once they were finished with it, they sat the card in their room and went back to the easel, working on a new painting and that card was just the right inspiration for it.

It must have been an hour or two when they felt a familiar hand on their shoulder blade.

“You’re painting a portrait of…T-Drop? _Really?_ ” Asriel questioned.

“Yeah, your portrait looked lonely by itself, I thought I’d give it a neighbor,” they said, smiling without looking over at him.

The said portrait was coming out fairly nice, Blooky was white, but the background was many different shades of blue and green.

“Are you going to paint yourself too?” he asked curiously.

“I was thinking about it,” they then turned to eye him “unless… how well do you paint?”

His eyes widened in surprise, “are you honestly asking for _me_ to paint a portrait of _you?_ ”

They shrugged lazily, “yeah, of course, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to,”

He scoffed, “I’ll do it, but you’ll have to give me time, consider it a late birthday gift,”

Frisk grinned brightly “wow, thanks, I’m really excited to see your art style now,”

Asriel waved them off, “ _whatever_ …. now, what would you like to do next?”

“Um, well, I’m almost done, so I’d like to finish this first… but _…ah._..I do have an ache in my back from sitting like this for so long… do you think you could.. _.y’know…?_ ” they asked, motioning to their back.

His eyebrows raised, “you want a massage?”

They chuckled shyly, “yeah… it’s not weird to ask, is it?”

Asriel shook his head, “no, I’m actually surprised you haven’t asked sooner, I noticed you get back pains fairly easy,”

“You can feel my pain _too?_ ” Frisk asked, worried.

“No, I just noticed your tells, you rub your shoulders… honestly the human spine is an anatomical nightmare,” he explained.

“ _Ooh, I see now_ ,” Frisk said, shaking their head at themselves, “well, if you really don’t mind, I’ve got a particular pain right… here,” they began, reaching behind and patting at the lower part of the nape of their neck

He applied a little bit of pressure at the spot with his thumbs and rubbed it with uncertainty.  
“Right here?”

“Mmhm, can you put a little more oomph into it please?”

“That better?” he asked, complying.

They let out a comforted sigh, fluttering their eyes closed, “yeah… that’s…that’s really nice,”

Asriel chuckled faintly, “I guess you’re not going to continue with that painting,”

Frisk blinked their eyes back open, “oh.. .yeah, heh, maybe not,” and with that, sat their paintbrush down, it seemed a good time for it to dry anyway.

They then allowed themselves to relax, looking back to Asriel to smile at him, and then closed their eyes once more, enjoying his special attention.

After a minute or two, they spoke up.

  
“If you don’t mind, could you go a little lower now? I’ve got a back pain there too,”

“...Hm… …how low?” he questioned hesitantly.

Again, Frisk reached back around and now patted at the middle of their spine and the area above their bottom.

“It… kind of radiates? I don’t know, just freestyle around and I’ll tell you,”

Without a word, he continued on with his work, now slowly working his way down their back, getting more creative as he did so, and in Frisk's opinion, he was doing an increasingly excellent job.

As he finally reached the pain, Frisk let out another pleased sigh, “that’s the one, _stay there,_ ”

Then, they let another very happy sigh as he applied a little more pressure.

_Actually_ … _this very happy sigh was more of a very happy moan._

It seemed to get Asriel’s attention as he suddenly clapped his hands flat on Frisk’s back- almost pushing them forward, causing Frisk to jump in surprise, not hurt but was definitely unsure if they wanted to look back at their masseur right now.

“Are you okay?” they asked, worried.

“I’m ****FINE****.” he answered stiffly.

“Should I stay quiet or… are we done?” they pressed on.

“I think we’re done, I’ll be right back, I need to go get a few things,”

He teleported away, leaving Frisk slightly disappointed and confused, but now somewhat amused, another questionable moment between them to gauge over later.

Not too much later, he teleported back into the dining room, revealing Frisk’s birthday dinner which turned out to be home-cooked Filipino food, notably half of it was dishes that their aunt often made.

“No way!” Frisk blurted out the second they saw it, overjoyed, “you made _all of this?!_ ”

Asriel smirked smugly, “of course, what do you think?”

“I think it’s beautifully delicious looking and that you’re spoiling me! Thank you Asriel,” they said, reaching over and hugging on to his nearest arm.

He smiled wistfully and slid his limb free from their grasp.  
“Don’t overthink it, just sit down and I’ll give you a plate and something to drink,” he said.

They eyed him but obeyed, sitting down and turning their attention back at the fragrant food.

Again today, they were further impressed by Asriel’s cooking abilities, he wasn’t their aunt, but he did an excellent job getting everything the way it was supposed to be.

“So, I’m guessing that this means you like it…?” he asked after several minutes of nothing but happy eating.

Frisk swallowed and wiped their mouth, “I _love_ it Az!”

He chuckled, taking a bite of his own food, “‘Az’?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was thinking of giving you a nickname, ‘Az’ makes me think of ‘Oz’ from the Wizard of Oz, I think the two of you have a few things in common, you’re both ‘ _great and powerful’!_ What do you think?”

His smile dropped hard, “I think it’s bad, we have nothing in common, Oz was a sham, _remember?_ ”

Frisk sighed, narrowing their eyebrows as they rested their cheek against their palm, realizing that they had forgotten, “..hm… yeah, he _was_ a sham, I guess you’re right, I haven’t seen the movie in a few years, oh well, it’s still a cute nickname anyway,”

Asriel rolled his eyes, “I suppose,”

There was then a thoughtful pause.

“Does this mean you like watching movies and shows?” Frisk asked curiously.

“Rarely, why are you asking now?”

“I don’t know, you just seemed like the type that didn’t care about stuff like that…so I didn’t think about it, but _now that I know you do_ , would you like to start watching movies with me?” they asked, their smile sweet.

Asriel frown edged upwards, “I’ll think about it, let’s stop talking, the food is going to get cold,”

Frisk continued watching for a moment longer in thought, smiling warmly to themselves before they complied.

Once the birthday lunch was finished, Asriel immediately began magically cleaning the table off, transporting the leftovers into the fridge, and resetting the table with clean china.

“Is it time for cake?” Frisk asked.

At that, the God snapped his fingers and a tall four-tier birthday cake appeared in the middle of the table. 

The birthday cake in subject, was chocolate with streams of red graceful icing flowing down and around the tiers, resembling celebration streamers in the air, and matching red icing geranium flowers decorating it.

Frisk beamed and stood up to get a better look, “wow! Asriel! You’re outdoing yourself! This is _gorgeous!_ ”

Asriel crossed his arms, his smug smile reappearing, “it _should_ be, I had a professional baker do it, don’t worry… I paid him anonymously, _he wouldn’t have done it otherwise,_ ”

Frisk giggled, taking out their phone and taking a few pictures, they then peeked over at him, grinning shyly when they saw that he was watching them.

“You didn’t want to bake one yourself?” they asked, sitting back down.

“Mm, I thought about it, I enjoy baking desserts, but my skill sets for what I wanted to give you aren’t optimal enough yet,” he explained.

_“I see_ ,” Frisk murmured, “after that lunch, I’m sure I’d adore anything you bake,”

He nodded, “I’ll remember that.”

He then lifted his hand and a dramatically large cutting knife appeared in his grasp, “now, shut up, it’s time for cake,”

Frisk then proceeded to watch as his occupied hand detached from his arm and flew into the air to slice a piece, another hand detaching to grab a plate and rest the piece on top.

Once it was handed to them, Asriel snapped his fingers and a bottle of already opened red wine appeared next to Frisk’s glass.

They perked up at the sight, “I nearly forgot! Awesome!” they then looked to Asriel, “are you going to have some too?”

“The wine?” he asked, doing a subtle double-take, concentrating on getting his piece of cake.

“Yeah, I don’t want to drink my first drink alone,”

“Perhaps a little, I am not exactly sure drinking is a good idea for me,” he explained with a tight frown, eyeing the dessert over.

“Oh, so alcohol affects you?” they asked, now concerned.

“Somewhat… if I have enough, I’m not sure I like how it messes with my senses, there are few things I’m constantly keeping track of,” he then looked to Frisk, “if you don’t mind, I’m going to start eating this now,”

Frisk smiled and nodded, taking a bite of the cake as well, moaning as the combination of the rich chocolate flavor and thick texture of cake hit their mouth.

“ _Awwhh man…this is sooooo goood_ ,”

Asriel made a similar sound, closing his eyes as concentrating on the taste, “ _I know… it really, really is,” he uttered out in bliss._

For the next few minutes, Frisk and Asriel continued joyously eating, praising, and worshiping the all-holy chocolatey birthday cake.

Soon enough, Frisk gazed at the wine and gingerly poured themselves a glass.

“Careful with how much you drink,” Asriel spoke up, eyeing the red juice as Frisk poured it to the top.

“I will, I’ve seen my cousin deal with a few hangovers, it isn’t pretty,” they said, “but… I do want to try getting at least a little bit drunk, it seems fun from what I’ve seen,”

Asriel shrugged, “it’s your birthday, do what you want, just be careful,”

Frisk smiled, “by the way… you don’t have to drink if you don’t feel comfortable with it, you can just get a sugar high off the cake instead, it’ll be close enough,”

He grinned back, clacking a new empty wine glass to Frisk’s full glass, “happy birthday idiot,”

“ _Happy birthday to me_ ,” they sighed happily, finally taking a sip of their drink.

Asriel laughed loudly at Frisk’s face as they scrunched it up.

“That’s _weird!_ ” they exclaimed, “…but…you know what?” they then took another sip, “... _I kind of like it_ ,”

Asriel laughed more, “yeah, alcohol can grow on you.”

The two continued talking, eating more cake and sipping on wine.

Halfway through, Frisk let out a long sigh as they remembered something.

“What is it?” Asriel asked.

“I should have called my aunt and cousin before this, but I can feel the wine…working it’s.. _stuff,_ what if I say something weird or suspicious? What if they figure out that I’m drinking?”

“On your _twenty-first_ birthday? _No way_ ,” Asriel echoed sarcastically, smirking with amusement.

Frisk covered their face with realization and giggled at themselves.

“Just call her tomorrow, tell her you went to party and forgot or something of that nature,”

“Okay, sounds good, thanks Ass,” they then snorted with laughter, “ _AZ!_ I MEANT AZ!”

Asriel rolled his eyes, “that was fast, you must be a lightweight,”

“I’m not drunk I swear! It was just a little slip of the tongue,” Frisk attempted to explain, still giggling.

He grinned back, “but you feel something don’t you?”

Frisk took another sip, crossing their legs tightly, their smile turning coy, still gazing at him “ _I’m feeling several things actually,_ ”

At that, Asriel looked away and back down at his fourth slice and continued eating.

Frisk continued watching him, deciding it was best to change the subject.

“Hey, when is your birthday? I’d like to celebrate it too,”

“ _I don’t…_ ,” he began, staring down at his plate, grimacing “…I don’t really like to celebrate it,”

Frisk let out a disappointed sigh, “that’s okay, I was just looking for another reason for us to do something fun like this again,”

He peeked a red eye at them, “don’t worry, once we finally start teleporting together, you will be having plenty more fun than this,”

They grinned in delight, “thank you Asriel,”

“For what? Spoiling you?” he asked, crooking an eyebrow.

“Of course, everything you’ve done has been fantastic and I’m beyond grateful, but mostly.. thank you for being my friend and hanging out with me, I’m glad I met you,”

He slowly but finally smiled back, “ _me too_ ,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this one, I know I did, coming up with food has been fun so far. 
> 
> Again, I have to apologize because I'll be slipping into another hiatus for a bit, but I hope this helps ease the wait. 
> 
> Fun facts!  
> If I haven't been clear enough, I headcannon this Frisk to be Filipino, they are also Filipino in my other fic, Growing Pains too, but due to the fact that they don't remember their past family, they have no access to knowing about their real heritage and I couldn't figure out how to add hints, I don't want to risk getting any information wrong. 
> 
> Red geraniums are supposed to symbolize determination, and apparently in Victorian times, giving a person geraniums was supposed to mean you think that person is stupid or foolish, also, geraniums are said to be hard to kill. (I've also used red geraniums in Growing Pains as well, it seems like a good flower for Frisk, or at least Asriel thinks so.)
> 
> There's no real reason why I keep detailing food they eat, it was fun at first to think something tasty so I just kept doing it, I apologize if I've made anyone hungry when they didn't want to be.


End file.
